Endometrial vascular and glandular expression of integrin α(v)β3 in women with and without endometriosis

Abstract

The integrin α(v)β3 functions in both cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix adhesion, and has reported roles in platelet aggregation, immune function, tissue repair, tumour invasion, angiogenesis and uterine receptivity. The aim of this study was to use immunohistochemistry to describe the vascular and glandular expression of integrin α(v)β3 in formalin fixed, paraffin embedded endometrium obtained from women with (n = 29) and without (n = 24) endometriosis. The results showed a significant increase in the percentage of vessels expressing α(v)β3 in the endometrium of women with endometriosis compared with controls (P = 0.0001). This difference was more pronounced in the secretory phase (P ..