THE EFFECT OF PROGESTERONE ON THE ACCUMULATION OF LEUKOCYTES IN THE HUMAN ENDOMETRIUM

OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the role of progesterone on th e number and type of leukocytes found in human endometrium STUDY DESIG N: Endometrial tissue was obtained from normally cycling women and fro m women receiving hormone replacement therapy for premature ovarian fa ilure. All tissues were formalin fixed, sectioned, and stained with sp ecific antibodies to leukocytes, T cells, B cells, and macrophages. Ea ch tissue was also dated by means of published techniques. Quantitatio n was performed by counting all immunopositive cells in five high-powe red fields. Data were compared by analysis of variance and Mann-Whitne y U test. RESULTS: Leukocytes increased from 31.1 to 99.1 per high-pow ered field (p = 0.0001), and T cells increased from 10.9 to 20.4 per h igh-powered field (p = 0.001) after 12 days of progesterone treatment of women with ovarian failure. Normally menstruating women in the late luteal phase had similar concentrations. Neither B cells nor macropha ges were found to increase with progesterone treatment. CONCLUSIONS: T hese data indicate that progesterone results in an increased leukocyte and T-cell concentration in human endometrium.