Expression and significance of erythropoietin in endometriosis tissues

Objective To investigate the expression of erythropoietin(Epo) in endometriosis and its related clinical roles.Methods Both ectopic and eutopic endometrial tissues were collected from 30 cases of endometriosis,and the normal endometrial tissues were collected from 30 cases of non endometriosis.The expression of Epo was examined by SP immunohistochemistry.Results The expression of Epo predominately concentrated in cytoplasm of glandular epithelial cells,while there was no obvious expression in stromal cells.Epo expressions in both ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium were higher than those of normal endometrium(P0.01),but there was no significant difference between the ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium(P0.05).In addition,there was no significant difference in the expression of Epo between the proliferative phase and secretory phase in three groups(P0.05).Conclusion Epo may play an important role in the progression of endometrosis.