Ld. Klentzeris et al., BETA-1 INTEGRIN CELL-ADHESION MOLECULES IN THE ENDOMETRIUM OF FERTILEAND INFERTILE WOMEN, Human reproduction, 8(8), 1993, pp. 1223-1230
In order to investigate whether the endometrium of women with unexplai
ned infertility differs immunologically from the endometrium of normal
fertile women, a panel of six monoclonal antibodies was used to chara
cterize the presence of the beta1-integrins or very-late-activation an
tigens (VLA) in the different endometrial compartments. Precisely time
d endometrial biopsies at 4, 7, 10 and 13 days following the luteinizi
ng hormone surge were obtained from 24 normal fertile women (group I)
and 24 women suffering from unexplained infertility (group II). Frozen
sections were labelled using an avidin-biotin peroxidase technique. V
LA-1, VLA-2 and VLA-3 were present in glandular epithelium, stromal ce
lls and vessels of both groups. VLA-4 was detected in group I but was
absent from glandular and surface epithelium of group II. VLA-5 was no
t present in any of the specimens. VLA-6 was identified primarily in t
he basement membrane of vessels, glandular and surface epithelium in b
oth patient groups. This study indicates that most beta1-integrins are
present in endometrium throughout the luteal phase of the menstrual c
ycle. The differences observed between the two groups may contribute t
o unexplained infertility.