Polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue and apoptosis of endometrial cells

Objective: To induce apoptosis of endometriotic cells of patients with endometriosis. Design: To demonstrate that polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue directly inhibits cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis. Setting: University hospital infertility center. Patient(S): Twelve women who visited the center for infertility therapy. Intervention(s): Polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue was applied into primary endometriotic cells; the manipulated cells were collected 1-4 days after polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue treatment. Main Outcome Measure(s): Primary endometriotic cell cultures from eutopic endometriotic tissue were established. The effect of the novel biological glue, polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue A, on endometrial cells in vitro was examined. The different stages of apoptosis were analyzed using flow cytometry with fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugate (FITC)-annexin V and propidium iodide staining. Result(s): The growth inhibitory effects of polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue A on endometrial cells were found to be dose-response and time dependent. Less than 15% viability was detected in cultures containing 2,000 mu g of polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue A after 4 days of treatment. Induced apoptosis and caspase activity were revealed, The caspase-3 activity increased 2.2-fold with 4 days of culture with 2,000 mu g of polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue A. Conclusion(s): This is the first study to demonstrate that polyglycolic acid/chitosan glue directly inhibits cell proliferation by inducing apoptosis, thus suggesting that this new biological glue may be useful for endometriosis therapy. (c) 2005 by American Society for Reproductive Medicine.