Correlation of LOX-5 and COX-2 expression with inflammatory pathology and clinical features of adenomyosis

Abstract

Adenomyosis is a common benign disease of women of childbearing age. The typical clinical features are prolonged menstruation, menorrhagia and ingravescent dysmenorrhea. In the present study, the severity of dysmenorrhea was assessed using the visual analogue scale system as follows: 0, No pain; 1-3, minimal pain; 4-6, moderate pain; and 7-10, severe pain. Menstrual blood loss was evaluated using the pictorial blood loss assessment chart (PBAC). Menorrhagia was defined as excessive menstrual blood loss >80 ml (PBAC >100) per period. Specimens of eutopic endometrium (EU) and ectopic endometrium (EC) were collected from 20 patients with adenomyosis to evaluate the association between lipoxygenase-5 (LOX-5) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and inflammatory pathology and clinical features of adenomyosis. For that purpose, the expression levels of LOX-5, COX-2, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-8 in the EU and EC of patients with adenomyosis were determined, and clinical data including dysmenorrhea and menstruation were analyzed. Differences in expression levels of LOX-5 and COX-2 were detected, and the correlations between LOX-5, COX-2, IL-6 and IL-8 in different groups were analyzed. In addition, the correlations between LOX-5, COX-2 and clinical features of adenomyosis were investigated. The present study demonstrated that LOX-5 and COX-2 are overexpressed in EU and EC, and they have positive correlations with IL-6 and IL-8, suggesting that adenomyosis lesions are present in inflammatory pathological conditions. The expression levels of LOX-5 and COX-2 exhibited a correlation with dysmenorrhea and menstruation.