Our data identify differentially expressed proteins S100A9 and S100A8, and suggest they may serve as novel molecular markers to predict postoperative recurrence of an ovarian endometriotic cysts.<b>Abbreviations:</b> iTRAQ: isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation; HPRD: Human Protein Reference Database; GO: Gene Ontology; KEGG: Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes; EM: Endometriosis; COX-2: cyclooxyenase-2; NF-kB: nuclear factor kappa-B; PR-B: progesterone receptor type B.
Overall, the results of the study reveal the efficacy of 6-shogaol against endometriosis via effectively suppressing proliferation of the lesions and modulating angiogenesis and COX-2/NF-κB-mediated inflammatory cascades.
In a preclinical mouse model of endometriosis we demonstrated overexpression of the PGE<sub>2</sub>-signaling pathway (including COX-2, EP<sub>2</sub>, EP<sub>4</sub>) in endometriosis lesions, dorsal root ganglia (DRG), spinal cord, thalamus and forebrain.
In conclusion, our study establishes the involvement of MMP-2 activity via COX-2-PGE2-pAKT axis in promoting angiogenesis during endometriosis progression.
The present study identified that in Brazilian women the presence of the ancestral allele, -765G, of the COX-2 gene is associated with an increased risk for development of moderate/severe endometriosis associated with fertility, and that the eutopic endometrium of women with endometriosis showed increased expression of COX-2 when compared to the control group.
COX-2 mRNA level in unmethylated endometrium of the endometriosis group or the control group was 2.39-fold and 2.66-fold, respectively, higher than that in the methylated endometrium of the same group (P < 0.01).
Also, COX-2 gene expression and prostaglandin E(2) production were induced in those cells by increasing COX-2 promoter transcription activity, which could be attenuated by a specific p38MAPK inhibitor, suggesting a role for peritoneal fluid in the etiopathogenesis of endometriosis.
Herein, we report that macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF), a potent proinflammatory and growth-promoting factor found at elevated concentrations in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis and active endometriosis lesions, acts directly on ectopic endometrial cells to stimulate the synthesis of COX-2, the inducible form of COX, and the release of PGE(2).
The elevation of IL-18 in the peritoneal fluid of endometriosis patients and the induction of COX-II in peritoneal monocytes by IL-18 suggest that IL-18 plays a pathogenic role in endometriosis.
Expressions of COX-2 mRNA in endometrium, ectopic endometriosis tissue, and peritoneum were quantitavely determined by competitive reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).