Women's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang 310006, PR China.
Acta Histochem. 2013 May;115(4):301-7. doi: 10.1016/j.acthis.2012.08.006. Epub 2012 Sep 10.
Angiogenesis is a prerequisite for endometriotic lesion formation and development. Pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) is a potential inhibitor of angiogenesis. The objective of this study was to detect PEDF immunolocalization in endometriotic lesions and the correlation with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and microvascular density (MVD) in a rat model of endometriosis. A subcutaneous endometriosis rat model was established by using auto-transplantation. Expression of PEDF, VEGF and MVD labeled by von Willebrand factor (v-WF) in endometriotic lesions and endometrial tissues was evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. We detected lower PEDF immunostaining and higher VEGF and MVD immunostaining in active lesions in a rat model of endometriosis than that in endometriosis endometrium or control endometrium (P<0.05), but no differences between endometriosis and control endometrium were found (P>0.05). In lesions, PEDF expression was negatively correlated with VEGF expression, MVD or sizes of cysts (P<0.01). On the contrary, both VEGF expression and MVD were positively correlated with lesion sizes (P<0.05). In addition, VEGF expression was positively correlated with MVD (P<0.01). Our results suggest that PEDF might be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and may lead to novel treatment for this disease.
血管生成是子宫内膜异位症形成和发展的前提。色素上皮衍生因子（PEDF）是血管生成的潜在抑制剂。本研究旨在检测子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型中 PEDF 的免疫定位及其与血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）和微血管密度（MVD）的相关性。通过自体移植建立皮下子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型。采用免疫组织化学染色检测子宫内膜异位症病灶和子宫内膜组织中 von Willebrand 因子（v-WF）标记的 PEDF、VEGF 和 MVD 的表达。我们在子宫内膜异位症大鼠模型的活动病灶中检测到较低的 PEDF 免疫染色，以及较高的 VEGF 和 MVD 免疫染色，与子宫内膜异位症子宫内膜或对照子宫内膜相比（P<0.05），但子宫内膜异位症和对照子宫内膜之间没有差异（P>0.05）。在病灶中，PEDF 表达与 VEGF 表达、MVD 或囊肿大小呈负相关（P<0.01）。相反，VEGF 表达和 MVD 均与病灶大小呈正相关（P<0.05）。此外，VEGF 表达与 MVD 呈正相关（P<0.01）。我们的研究结果表明，PEDF 可能参与子宫内膜异位症的发病机制，并可能为该疾病提供新的治疗方法。
