Effects of gene polymorphism and serum levels of IL-2 and IL-6 on endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE: EMT is closely related to gene polymorphism and the expression level of immune-related substances in patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), as well as serum levels of interleukin 2 (IL-2) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) in patients with endometriosis (EMT) and disease susceptibility. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood of EMT patients and healthy people were collected, respectively. Genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was extracted and sequenced to obtain gene polymorphisms of IL-2 rs11575812 (T>C), rs2069772 (A>G), rs2069762 (T>G), and IL-6 rs1800795 (C>G). Meanwhile, the serum levels of IL-2 and IL-6 were determined by the relative kits. RESULTS: For IL-2 rs11575812 allele (C>G), the odds ratio (OR) was 0.49, the 95% confidence interval (CI) was 0.37-0.66, and the p-value was 0. For IL-2 rs2069772 allele (C>G), the OR was 0.97, the 95% CI was 0.73-1.27, and the p-value was 0.83. For IL-2 rs2069762 allele (T>G), the OR was 1.73, the 95% CI was 1.31-2.29, and the p-value was 0. For IL-6 rs1800795 allele (C>G), the OR was 1.26, the 95% CI was 0.96-1.66, and the p-value was 0.09. CC genotype (p=0.000) and TT genotype (p=0.040) of IL-2 rs11575812 (T>C), AG genotype (p=0.000) of IL-2 rs2069772 (A>G), and GT genotype (p=0.000) of rs2069762 (T>G) were remarkably associated with the serum level of IL-2 in patients with EMT. Similarly, the CG genotype (p=0.000) of IL-6 rs1800795 (C>G) was significantly correlated with the serum level of IL-6 in patients with EMT. IL-2 haplotype CAG (p=0.005), CAT (p=0.001), CGG (p=0.047), TAG (p=0.000), and TGG (p=0.000) were significantly different from other haplotypes. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation between the serum levels of IL-2 and IL-6 (r=0.63, p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: IL-2 rs11575812 (T>C) TT genotype, rs2069772 (A>G) AG genotype and rs2069762 (T>G) GG genotype increases the risk of EMT, which are related to the serum levels of IL-2 and IL-6.

Effects of lncRNA BANCR on endometriosis through ERK/MAPK pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the regulatory role of long non-coding ribonucleic acid (lncRNA) BRAF-activated non-coding RNA (BANCR) in rats with endometriosis (EMs) and its mechanism of action. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 30 healthy, unmated, female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were selected and divided into sham-operation group, model group and lncRNA BANCR intervention group, and a rat model of EMs was established by means of autotransplantation. The volume of eutopic endometrium in each group of rats was measured, and hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was applied to detect the impacts on the pathological morphology of ectopic endometrial tissues in each group. The levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in the rat serum were determined by virtue of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed to measure the messenger RNA (mRNA) levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) in the uterine tissues in each group of rats, and Western blotting assay was adopted to detect the levels of phosphorylated ERK and MAPK proteins in the rat uterine tissues in each group. RESULTS: Compared with those in sham-operation group, the volume of eutopic endometrium in the rats was increased markedly, the pathological morphology was poorer, and the content of VEGF, MMP-2 and MMP-9 in the serum, the mRNA levels of ERK and MAPK in the uterine tissues, and the levels of phosphorylated ERK and MAPK proteins were elevated notably in model group. The rats in lncRNA BANCR intervention group had evidently decreased volume of eutopic endometrium, improved pathological morphology and significantly declined content of serum VEGF, MMP-2 and MMP-9, ERK and MAPK mRNA levels, and phosphorylated ERK and MAPK protein levels in the uterine tissues than those in model group. CONCLUSIONS: LncRNA BANCR inhibitor can repress the development of ectopic endometrial tissues by inhibiting the generation of angiogenic factors in the EMs focus, and its mechanism may be related to the inhibition on the ERK/MAPK signaling pathway.