Khan Khaleque Newaz, Kitajima Michio, Fujishita Akira, Nakashima Masahiro, Masuzaki Hideaki
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2013 Aug;39(8):1281-92. doi: 10.1111/jog.12117. Epub 2013 Jul 15.
Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent chronic inflammatory condition associated with variable degrees of pelvic pain and infertility. Studies have showed that the growth and progression of endometriosis continue even in ovariectomized animals. This indicates that besides ovarian steroid hormones, the growth of endometriosis can be regulated by the innate immune system in the pelvic environment. As a component of innate immune system, increased infiltration of macrophages has been described in the intact tissue and peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis. Different immune cells and dendritic cells express Toll-like receptors (TLR) and exhibit functional activity in response to microbial products. In this review article, we discuss the role of the TLR system in endometrium and endometriosis and outline the involvement of cytokines/endotoxin in causing adverse reproductive outcome. In the first part of this review article, the fundamentals of innate immune system, functional characteristics of TLR and signaling pathways of TLR4 are discussed for easy understanding by the readers.
子宫内膜异位症是一种雌激素依赖性慢性炎症性疾病，伴有不同程度的盆腔疼痛和不孕。研究表明，即使在卵巢切除的动物中，子宫内膜异位症的生长和进展仍会继续。这表明，除了卵巢甾体激素外，子宫内膜异位症的生长还可受盆腔环境中固有免疫系统的调节。作为固有免疫系统的一个组成部分，在患有子宫内膜异位症的女性的完整组织和腹腔液中，巨噬细胞的浸润增加已被描述。不同的免疫细胞和树突状细胞表达Toll样受体（TLR），并对微生物产物表现出功能活性。在这篇综述文章中，我们讨论了TLR系统在子宫内膜和子宫内膜异位症中的作用，并概述了细胞因子/内毒素在导致不良生殖结局中的作用。在这篇综述文章的第一部分，讨论了固有免疫系统的基本原理、TLR的功能特性以及TLR4的信号通路，以便读者易于理解。
