Immunohistochemical analysis of insulin-like growth factor I, insulin-like growth factor I receptor and insulin-like growth factor II in endometriotic tissue and endometrium.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate unprecedentedly immunohistochemical localization of insulin-like growth factor I, insulin-like growth factor I receptor and insulin-like growth factor II in endometriotic tissue, and to compare staining intensity with that of endometrium obtained simultaneously.
METHODS: Endometriotic and corresponding endometrial tissue samples were obtained during operative laparoscopy from eighteen infertile patients for the problem of infertility. Semiquantitative scoring was used for analysis of results.
RESULTS: It was demonstrated that insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor I receptor were present in both endometriotic and endometrial tissues. In contrast, there was little insulin-like growth factor II present in either ectopic or eutopic endometrial tissue. For insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor I receptor, the immunostaining score was similar between ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues. There was no significant difference in immunostaining score between glandular epithelium and stromal cells.
CONCLUSIONS: insulin-like growth factor I and insulin-like growth factor I receptor could be demonstrated immunohistochemically in both endometriotic and endometrial tissues.