Semi-quantitative analysis of HOXA11, leukemia inhibitory factor and basic transcriptional element binding protein 1 mRNA expression in the mid-secretory endometrium of patients with endometriosis.

Background: HOXA11 and leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and basic transcriptional element binding protein1 (BTEB1) are expressed in endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle and show a dramatic increase during the mid-luteal phase at the time of implantation. In this case-control study, the expression pattern of these mRNA was evaluated in patients with endometriosis at the time of implantation. We also describe a semi-quantitative RT-PCR protocol optimized in our laboratory.

Methods: Eight patients with endometriosis were considered as our case and 8 fertile women as control group. Expression levels of HOXA11, LIF and BTEB1 mRNA were measured in endometrium during the mid-secretory phase using semi-quantitative RT-PCR.

Results: We describe the detailed procedure for the analysis of HOXA11, LIF and BTEB1 mRNA levels. Endometrial HOXA11 and LIF mRNA expression levels (normalized to beta-actin expression) were significantly decreased in endometrium of infertile patients with endometriosis compared with healthy fertile controls at the time of implantation (P < 0.05). A similar trend was seen in BTEB1 mRNA expression.

Conclusion: The results suggest that the alteration in expression pattern of the some genes could account for some aspects of infertility in endometriosis.