Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
J Reprod Immunol. 2021 Jun;145:103292. doi: 10.1016/j.jri.2021.103292. Epub 2021 Feb 19.
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease often associated with dysmenorrhea, infertility, adenomyosis, and endometrial ovarian cyst (EOC). In particular, EOC can sometimes become malignant in a longitudinal follow-up. This study aimed to investigate the involvement of high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in an inflammatory milieu and the characteristics of immune cells in EOC. The samples were obtained from patients who underwent ovarian cystectomy for benign ovarian cyst. The participants were divided into two groups: patients with EOC (EOC group) and those without EOC (nEOC group). We divided a part of the removed ovary into small sections and isolated the tissue cells. Thereafter, the cytoplasmic HMGB1 levels in DCs, macrophages, and non-immune cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. We also evaluated the proportions of immune, T, NK, iNKT, NK, and regulatory T (Treg) cells. Results showed that the DCs, macrophages, and non-immune cells of EOC had significantly higher cytoplasmic HMGB1 levels than those of nEOC. The expression of CD69 and CD107a on CD8 T and CD4 T cells of EOC was also more enhanced than that of nEOC. Furthermore, the M2 macrophages and Tregs highly accumulated in EOC. These results indicate that HMGB1 may aggravate chronic inflammation related to T-cell activation and simultaneously facilitate development of the immunosuppressive milieu in EOCs.
子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性炎症性疾病，常伴有痛经、不孕、腺肌病和子宫内膜卵巢囊肿（EOC）。特别是，EOC 在纵向随访中有时会恶变。本研究旨在探讨高迁移率族蛋白 B1（HMGB1）在炎症环境中的作用以及 EOC 中免疫细胞的特征。样本取自因良性卵巢囊肿而行卵巢囊肿切除术的患者。参与者分为两组：EOC 患者（EOC 组）和无 EOC 患者（nEOC 组）。我们将一部分切除的卵巢切成小块并分离组织细胞。然后，通过流式细胞术分析 DC、巨噬细胞和非免疫细胞中的细胞质 HMGB1 水平。我们还评估了免疫细胞、T 细胞、NK 细胞、iNKT 细胞、NK 细胞和调节性 T（Treg）细胞的比例。结果表明，EOC 的 DC、巨噬细胞和非免疫细胞的细胞质 HMGB1 水平明显高于 nEOC。EOC 的 CD8 T 和 CD4 T 细胞上 CD69 和 CD107a 的表达也比 nEOC 更增强。此外，M2 巨噬细胞和 Treg 在 EOC 中大量聚集。这些结果表明，HMGB1 可能加重与 T 细胞激活相关的慢性炎症，同时促进 EOC 中免疫抑制微环境的发展。
