[Investigations on isolation, purification and cultivation of human endometrial cells and on the in vitro inhibin expression in glandular epithelial cells].

The separate in vitro cultivation of isolated and purified human endometrial glands and stromal cells seems to be the most attractive experimental way of studying the endometrial function on cellular level. In this paper a new method has been described to establish monolayer cultures of isolated endometrial stromal and epithelial cell populations. After a first collagenase digestion, stromal and epithelial cells were separated by filtration. The glandular epithelial cells were further purified with two collagenase digestion steps, filtration, a differential sedimentation at unity gravity and a Ficoll gradient centrifugation. Stromal cells were isolated with the use of erylyse-buffer, filtration and differential sedimentation at unity gravity. A significant higher inhibin production was observed during late secretory compared to proliferative and early secretory phase. Therefore, glandular epithelial cells maintain in vitro their initial differentiation. The higher inhibin concentration during secretory phase implicates a substantial role in endometrial function and maturation. Therefore, inhibin could be used as a marker of endometrial differentiation. Experiments on isolated glandular epithelial cells should be performed within two weeks. The method described here allows the propagation in vitro of separate endometrium cell types which can be used to study endometrial function as well as implantation mechanisms.