The T cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule 3 (TIM-3), as a negative regulatory immune checkpoint, plays an important role in cellular immunity by binding to its ligand galectin-9 (Gal-9). Under abnormal conditions, this pathway can regulate the depletion of T cells and suppress the immune response. Abnormal expression of TIM-3 and Gal-9 has been confirmed in a variety of cancers, recurrent miscarriages, chronic infectious diseases and autoimmune diseases. More and more studies have shown that immune factors play an important role in the pathogenesis of adenomyosis. However, few studies have attempted to explore their expression in adenomyosis. The ectopic and eutopic endometrium were collected from 15 women with adenomyosis and 13 women without adenomyosis. TIM-3/Gal-9 expression in endometrial tissue was detected using immunohistochemistry, western blot analysis and real-time PCR. We observed TIM-3/Gal-9 expression in both eutopic and ectopic endometria, with elevated expression in adenomyosis. These data suggest that TIM-3/Gal-9 may be involved in the development and progression of adenomyosis.
Keywords: T cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule 3; adenomyosis; endometrium; galectin-9; immune checkpoint.