Korean J Fertil Steril.  1999 Dec;26(3):331-338.

Effects of Insulin-like Growth Factor in Peritoneal Fluid of Patients with Endometriosis on the Proliferation of Endometrial Stromal Cells

• Kim JG
• Suh CS
• Kim SH
• Choi YM
• Moon SY
• Lee JY

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to evaluate the effects of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)s in peritoneal fluid (PF) from patients with and without endometriosis on the proliferation of endometrial stromal cells and to investigate the effects of type I IGF receptor antibody on the response of endometrial stromal cells to PF from patients with endometriosis. IGFs in PF from patients with endometriosis (n=14) and without endometriosis (n=10) were measured by immunoradiometric assay and PF samples were divided into low IGF-I PF group (less than 85 ng/ml) and high IGF-I PF group (more than 85 ng/ml). Endometrial stromal cells from patients without endometriosis were cultured in serum free media in the presence or absence of 1% PF and thymidine incorporation test were used to evaluate the proliferation of endometrial stromal cells. Also cultures were incubated with type I IGF receptor monoclonal antibody (alpha IR3) before adding PF. PF from patients with endometriosis and without endometriosis increased thymidine incorporation in endometrial stromal cells. In patients with endometriosis, high IGF-I PF group had high IGF-II levels and resulted in higher thymidine incorporation than low IGF-I PE and low IGF-I PF group was noted in patients without endometriosis. There was not a significant correlation between increase in thymidine incorporation and IGF-I levels in PF from patients without endometriosis but in PF from patients with endometriosis. Preincubation with alphaIR3 significantly inhibited the mitogenic response of endometrial stromal cells to PF. Our data indicate that IGF-I in PF may be involved in the growth of ectopic endometrium in patients with endometriosis.

MeSH Terms

Ascitic Fluid*
Culture Media, Serum-Free
Endometriosis*
Endometrium
Female
Humans
Immunoradiometric Assay
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Insulin-Like Growth Factor II
Stromal Cells*
Thymidine
Culture Media, Serum-Free
Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
Insulin-Like Growth Factor II
Thymidine