Fig 1.
A total of 97 infertility patients who agreed to participate in the study at this time were included in the study.
Out of these, 8 patients with endocrine and autoimmune diseases, 2 patients with uterine malformation, 3 patients with hydrosalpinx, 2 patients with submucous myoma, 1 patient with adenomyosis and 7 patients with endometrial polyps were excluded. Eight patients were excluded because of usage of antibiotics. As a result, 31 patients were excluded and 66 patients were included in the present study. CE was identified in 35 of 66 patients.
Table 1.
Patient characteristics in the CE and Non-CE groups.
Fig 2.
Results of the immunohistochemical analysis of the specimens.
(A) Endometrium diagnosed with chronic endometritis. The infiltration of CD138-positive plasma cells was detected in the stromal area of the endometrium by immunohistochemistry. (B) Endometrium diagnosed with non-chronic endometritis. No plasma cells were detected in the stromal area of the endometrium by immunohistochemistry for CD138. (C) Endometrium without CD138 antibody staining. No staining was detected in the endometrium. (D) Endometrium without a loss of E-cadherin. The expression of E-cadherin was detected in all the glandular cells in endometrial specimens. (E) Endometrium with a loss of E-cadherin. A cluster of endometrial glandular cells without E-cadherin staining was observed (arrows). When such a finding was detected, it was judged as a loss of E-cadherin. (F) Endometrium stained without E-cadherin antibodies. No staining was detected in the endometrium. (G) Endometrium without N-cadherin expression. The expression of N-cadherin was not detected in the glandular cells in endometrial specimens. (H) Endometrium with N-cadherin expression. Gain of N-cadherin staining was present in part of the endometrial glandular cells. When positive staining was observed, it was judged as a gain of N-cadherin expression. (I) Endometrium stained without N-cadherin antibodies. No staining was detected in the endometrium. (J) Endometrium without the expression of Slug. Slug was not expressed in the stromal cells of the endometrium. (K) Endometrium with the expression of Slug. Slug was expressed in the nuclei of endometrial stromal cells. When positive staining was observed, it was judged as Slug-positive. (L) Endometrium stained without Slug antibodies detected in the endometrium. (M) Endometrium without expression of Snail. The expression of Snail was not noted in the glandular cells of the endometrium. (N) Endometrium with the expression of Snail. The cytoplasmic expression of Snail was noted in the glandular cells of the endometrium. When positive staining was observed, it was judged as Snail-positive. (O) Endometrium stained without Slug antibodies. No staining was detected in the endometrium. Scale bar represents 50 μm.
Table 2.
The association between chronic endometritis and the cadherin expression profiles in the specimens.
Table 3.
The associations between chronic endometritis and the expression of EMT markers in specimens.
Table 4.
Patient characteristics in the EMT-positive and EMT-negative groups.