Uterine administration of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 increases the pregnancy rates in mice with induced endometriosis.

Objective: To study the effect of intrauterine injection of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12), also known as a stem cell chemoattractant (stromal cell-derived factor 1), on fertility and endometrial receptivity in mice with endometriosis.

Design: Laboratory study.

Setting: Academic Medical Center.

Animal(s): Fifty-six mice underwent chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation. Thirty-six of these mice underwent either surgery to induce endometriosis (n = 20) or sham surgery (n = 16).

Intervention(s): Injection of CXCL12 as a potential therapeutic agent to improve fertility in endometriosis.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Pregnancy rate, bone marrow-derived cell (BMDC) recruitment and endometrial receptivity markers.

Result(s): The mice with or without endometriosis received a single uterine injection of either CXCL12 or placebo. Uterine injection of CXCL12 increased the pregnancy rates in a mouse model of endometriosis. Mice were euthanized after delivery, and implantation markers homeobox A11, alpha-v beta-3 integrin, and progesterone receptor were analyzed by immunohistochemistry, whereas green fluorescent protein positive BMDC recruitment was quantified by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. The sham surgery groups without endometriosis had the highest cumulative pregnancy rate (100%) regardless of CXCL12 treatment. The endometriosis group treated with placebo had the lowest pregnancy rate. An increased pregnancy rate was noted in the endometriosis group after treatment with CXCL12. There was also an increase in BMDC recruitment and endometrial expression of progesterone receptor and alpha-v beta-3 integrin in the endometriosis group that received CXCL12 compared with that in the endometriosis group that received placebo.

Conclusion(s): Uterine injection of CXCL12 increased the pregnancy rates in a mouse model of endometriosis. These results suggest that CXCL12 has a potential role as a therapeutic agent in women with infertility related to endometriosis and potentially other endometrial receptivity defects.