Circulating Endometrial Cells: A New Source of Information on Endometriosis Dynamics
Open accessAbstract
The focus of the presented work was to isolate and characterize circulating endometrial cells (CECs) enriched from peripheral blood (PB) of patients with diagnosed endometriosis. The molecular characteristics of CECs could be supportive for an understanding of endometriosis pathogenesis and treatment decisions in the future. Material and Methods: Blood samples (n = 423) were tested for CECs presence. Subsequently, gene expression analysis (GEA) was carried out for CECs. In parallel, CECs presence and characteristics were tested during menstrual cycle (MC) phases in 11 patients. CECs were enriched by size-based separation. Results: CECs were present in 78.4% of the tested blood samples. In line with the revised American Fertility Society (rAFS) classification, CECs presence was confirmed in all the acknowledged endometriosis stages: minimal, mild, moderate, and severe. Surprisingly, CECs negativity rate was also reported for severe disease in 21.1% of cases. The CECs captured during MC phases displayed different cytomorphology, including epithelial, stromal, and stem cell-like characteristics. The highest CECs numbers were detected in the mid-secretory phase of MC, which corresponds to uterine lining decidualization. CECs captured during mid-secretory periods expressed genes KRT18, NANOG, and VIM in higher amounts when compared to the proliferative phase of MC, where genes KRT19 and ESR1 were mostly elevated. GEA of the super-positive CECs samples (1000 CECs/8 mL PB) revealed high expression of genes KRT18, VIM, NANOG, and FLT1. The expression of these genes was also elevated in the endometriosis tissue samples and endometrioma. Conclusion: The panel of the identified CEC genes could be tested in a prospective manner to confirm the role of CECs in endometriosis pathogenesis and diagnostics.
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Circulating endometrial cells have been identified in the peripheral blood of patients with spontaneous pneumothorax that is suspicious for catamenial pneumothorax.
“Kiss et al. have recently identified circulating endometrial cells in the peripheral blood of patients with spontaneous pneumothorax that is suspicious for catamenial pneumothorax.”
From Thoracic Endometriosis Syndrome: A Comprehensive Review and Multidisciplinary Approach to Management (2024) · cites this paper as [77]
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- Authors
- Pospisilova, E., Kiss, I., Souckova, H., Tomes, P., Spicka, J., Matkowski, R., Jedryka, M., Ferrero, S., Bobek, V., & Kolostova, K.
- Affiliations
- Department of Laboratory Genetics, Laboratory Diagnostics, Faculty Hospital Královské Vinohrady, Srobarova 50, 100 34 Prague 10, Czech Republic
- Charles University (CZ)
- Department of Gynecology, Military University Hospital and 3rd Faculty of Medicine, U Vojenske nemocnice 1200, 169 02 Prague 6, Czech Republic
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital, Faculty of Medicine Charles University, Alej Svobody 80, 301 66 Pilsen, Czech Republic
- Cellpeutics Sp. z o.o., Duńska 9,54-424 Wrocław, Poland
- Ospedale Policlinico San Martino (IT)
- Venue
- Journal of Clinical Medicine
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-11-11
- Volume
- 8
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1938
- ISSN
- 2077-0383 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6912292
- OpenAlex
- W2987483856
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Clinical Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- CINECA IRIS Institutial Research Information System (University of Genoa) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- DIP (Grant No. RPDS.01.02.01-02-0074/15-02)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Reproductive Medicine › Endometriosis Research and Treatment
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Extracellular vesicles in disease
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ectopic Pregnancy Diagnosis and Management
- Keywords
- endometriosis, endometrioma, menstrual cycle, luteal phase, decidualization, endometrial stem cells, gene expression, cytokeratin 18, Nanog, VIM, Flt-1, endometriosis diagnosis, endometriosis pathogenesis
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