Background:
Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease that affects women in reproductive age. In this disease, the endometrial tissue is implanted outside the uterine cavity, mainly in the pelvic area.
Endometriosis is associated with pelvic pain and infertility. Aberrant expression of enzymes involved in biosynthesis of estrogen, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) and aromatase (rate limiting enzyme in estrogen biosynthesis), have been reported in the endometrium of women with endometriosis. In addition, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is a potent inducer of StAR and aromatase gene expression in endometrial stromal cells and impresses its effect via cAMP response element binding protein (CREB).
CREB is a member of basic leucine zipper transcription factors family that has binding site on the promoter of StAR and aromatase genes. On the other hand, it has been shown that overexpression of
CREB is associated with cell proliferation, apoptosis inhibition and cell invasion.Objective: The goal of this study was to evaluate the gene expression of
CREB in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues of women with endometriosis compared with control endometrial samples.Materials and Methods:
Ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues were obtained from 10 women with endometriosis (endometriosis group). The diagnosis of endometriosis was laparoscopically approved. Control tissue samples were collected from 10 women who had no evidence of endometriosis during laparoscopy (control group). All studied women had no history of hormonal treatment before endometrial sampling. After endometrial tissue collection, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis were performed for both groups. The real-time PCR technique was used to examine the gene expression of CREB. The results were analyzed using one way ANOVA as statistical method.Results: Gene expression of
CREB was significantly higher in ectopic endometrium of women with endometriosis than control and eutopic endometrial samples (p<0.05), while its gene expression was approximately the same in control and eutopic endometrial tissues.Conclusion: The increased gene expression of
CREB in ectopic lesion of endometriosis may contribute in its pathogenesis via cell proliferation, apoptosis inhibition and cell invasion.