Increased expression of stemness genes and in women with ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium: A case-control study.

Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and their possible involvement in endometriosis.

Objective: In this study, we analyzed the mRNA expression of stemness gene and reconsidered three other stemness genes in women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium.

Materials And Methods: Ten ectopic and ten eutopic tissue samples along with 23 normal endometrium specimens were recruited in this study. The expression levels of , , , and genes were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results: The transcription levels of , , and mRNA were significantly increased in ectopic lesions compared with eutopic and control group ( = 0.041, = 0.035, = 0.048), although the mRNA increase was not significant between endometriosis and control groups. Also, there were differences in the expression level of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycles ( = 0.031, = 0.047, = 0.031).

Conclusion: Based on our data, we confirm the dynamic role of stemness genes in proliferation and growth of normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle and conclude that differential expression levels of these genes may contribute to the pathophysiology of endometriosis.