Objective: To determine if neurofilament (NF) is expressed in the endometrium and the lesions of myomas and adenomyosis, and to determine their correlation.
Methods: Histologic sections were prepared from hysterectomies performed on women with adenomyosis (n=21), uterine myoma (n=31), and carcinoma in situ of the uterine cervix. Full-thickness uterine paraffin blocks, which included the endometrium and myometrium histologic sections, were stained immunohistochemically using the antibodies for monoclonal mouse antihuman NF protein.
Results: NF-positive cells were found in the endometrium and myometrium in 11 women with myoma and in 7 with adenomyosis, but not in patients with carcinoma in situ of uterine cervix, although the difference was statistically not significant. There was no significant difference between the existence of NF-positive cells and menstrual pain or phases. The NF-positive nerve fibers were in direct contact with the lesions in nine cases (29.0%) of myoma and in five cases (23.8%) of adenomyosis. It was analyzed if there was a statistical significance between the existence of NF positive cells in the endometrium and the expression of NF-positive cells in the uterine myoma/adenomyosis lesions. When NF-positive cell were detected in the myoma lesions, the incidence of NF-positive nerve cells in the eutopic endometrium was significantly high. When NF-positive cell were detected in the basal layer, the incidence of NF-positive nerve cells in the myoma lesions and adenomyosis lesions was significantly high.
Conclusion: We assume that NF-positive cells in the endometrium and the myoma and adenomyosis lesions might play a role in pathogenesis. Therefore, more studies may be needed on the mechanisms of nerve fiber growth in estrogen-dependent diseases.
Keywords: Adenomyosis; Endometrium; Myoma; Nerve fibers; Neurofilament.