COEXPRESSION OF CYTOKERATIN AND VIMENTIN IN EUTOPIC ENDOMETRIUM AND ENDOMETRIOSIS THROUGHOUT THE MENSTRUAL-CYCLE - EVALUATION BY A COMPUTERIZED METHOD

Objective: To evaluate quantitatively cytokeratin and vimentin staining in glandular and stromal cells of eutopic and ectopic endometrium. Design: The investigation of cytokeratin and vimentin was carried out using the new computerized technology of image analysis. Setting: University Hospital, Department of Gynecology. Patients: Biopsies were taken from patients undergoing a laparoscopy for infertility (29 endometrial biopsies and 31 biopsies of peritoneal endometriosis). None of them were treated. Results: Cyclic variations of cytokeratin and vimentin staining were noted in eutopic endometrium. The cytokeratin and vimentin staining pattern consistently was lower in ectopic endometrium than in eutopic endometrium. Conclusions: Endometriotic epithelial and stromal cells undergo a complex program of differentiation giving them histochemical characteristics similar to those observed in endometrium. Such a concomitant expression of antigenicity indicates their close relationship with their mesodermal Mullerian origin.