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Shariati, F., Favaedi, R., Ramazanali, F., Ghoraeian, P., Afsharian, P., Aflatoonian, B., Aflatoonian, R., & Shahhoseini, M. (2019). Increased expression of stemness genes Rex-1, Oct-4, Nanog, and Sox-2 in women with ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium: A case-control study. International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM), 16(12), 783–790. https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v16i12.3684

https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v16i12.3684

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  • Cited by 11 articles

authors

  • Fatameh Shariati
    No author data available.
  • Raha Favaedi
    No author data available.
  • Fariba Ramazanali
    No author data available.
  • Pegah Ghoraeian
    No author data available.
  • Parvaneh Afsharian
    No author data available.
  • Behrouz Aflatoonian
    No author data available.
  • Reza Aflatoonian
    No author data available.
  • Maryam Shahhoseini
    No author data available.

Published Date

  • Jan 27, 2019

Increased expression of stemness genes Rex-1, Oct-4, Nanog, and Sox-2 in women with ovarian endometriosis versus normal endometrium: A case-control study

International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM) / International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM): Volume 16, Issue No. 12 / Pages 783–790

Abstract

Background: Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease which is defined as an overgrowth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The etiology of this disease is complex and multifactorial but there is a strong evidence that supports the presence of endometrial stem cells and their possible involvement in endometriosis.


Objective: In this study, we analyzed the mRNA expression of REX-1 stemness gene and reconsidered three other stemness genes SOX-2, NANOG, OCT-4 in women with endometriosis compared to normal endometrium.


Materials and Methods: Ten ectopic and ten eutopic tissue samples along with 23 normal endometrium specimens were recruited in this study. The expression levels of OCT-4, NANOG, SOX-2, and REX-1 genes were evaluated by the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.


Results: The transcription levels of OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX-2 mRNA were significantly increased in ectopic lesions compared with eutopic and control group (p = 0.041, p = 0.035, p = 0.048), although the REX-1 mRNA increase was not significant between endometriosis and control groups. Also, there were differences in the expression level of these genes in normal endometrium during the menstrual cycles (p = 0.031, p = 0.047, p = 0.031).


Conclusion: Based on our data, we confirm the dynamic role of stemness genes in proliferation and growth of normal endometrium during the menstrual cycle and conclude that differential expression n levels of these genes may contribute to the pathophysiology of endometriosis.


Key words: Endometriosis, Stemness genes.

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