| Summary: | Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue (glands and stroma) outside the uterus. The etiopathogenesis of endometriosis is still poorly recognized. It is speculated that stage-specific embryonic antigen 1 (SSEA-1)-positive stem-like glandular epithelial cells may contribute to the development of the disease. The synthesis of SSEA-1 is mediated by fucosyltransferase 4 encoded by the <i>FUT4</i> gene. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the specific expression of <i>FUT4</i> mRNA in biopsies of the endometrium from women with and without endometriosis. <i>FUT4</i> mRNA levels were examined in 49 women with laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis and 28 controls by means of quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The expression of <i>FUT4</i> mRNA was significantly increased in the endometrium of patients with endometriosis when compared to the controls (<i>p</i> < 0.0001). Expression of <i>FUT4</i> mRNA in the endometrium was correlated with the severity of endometriosis (r<sub>s</sub> = 0.5579, <i>p</i> < 0.0001); however, there were no differences in endometrial <i>FUT4</i> mRNA expression when comparing endometriotic lesions from various locations. The discriminatory ability of <i>FUT4</i> mRNA expression was evaluated by receiver-operating characteristics (ROC), which showed high statistical significance (AUC = 0.90, <i>p</i> < 0.0001), thus indicating that an increased level of endometrial <i>FUT4</i> mRNA may serve as a specific marker for endometriosis.
|
|---|