Expression of toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 in endometriosis

Background: Endometriosis is a benign disorder which is characterized by the presence of endometrial glandular and stromal cells in areas outside of the uterine. TLRs are essential receptors of the innate immune system that stimulate numerous inflammatory pathways and harmonize systemic defense against pathogens, whereas TLRs are expressed in the endometrial cells, as a result their expression and their regulation might be vital for the pathogenesis of endometrial diseases especially endometriosis. The objective of this study is to clarify the expression of TLR 2,3,4 in the ectopic and eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium of healthy women.Methods: Normal and eutopic endometrium obtained with pipelle from endometrium of women without and with endometriosis, respectively. Ectopic samples collected by laparoscopic procedure from patients with endometriosis. Total RNA was extracted from these samples and treated with DNase I. First-strand cDNA synthesis was then performed. RT-PCR and quantitative PCR were performed using the prepared cDNA and primers for TLR2 ,3 and 4. Relative TLR expression quantities were compared between three groups. The threshold cycle values were normalized against the threshold value of β-actin. Differences in normalized expression values between samples were tested for significance using ANOVA statistical test. The results were expressed as mean ± SEM. The P value less than 0.05 was considered as significant level.Result: RT-PCR has been shown the expression of TLR2 &3 genes in all samples of the eutopic , ectopic and control groups .The mean relative expression of TLR2,3&4 genes in endometriosis groups were significantly different from the control group.Conclusion: Endometriosis is a very complex disease with a great impact on many women’s quality of life. This disease affects roughly one in ten women of reproductive age. There are obvious associations between endometriosis and the immune system, and future strategies to treat endometriosis might be based on immunological concepts and methods. The different expression of TLR2,3 & 4 in these three types of endometrial tissues may be a strong evidence of critical role of innate immune system in outbreaks of endometriosis

Keywords:

Ectopic endometrium , Eutopic endometrium , Innate immune system , TLR , Endometriosis