title: Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in the endometrium of gilts with different stages of endometritis.
abstract: The present study determined the association among the expression of COX-2, stages of endometritis, and types and number of local immune cells infiltrating into the gilts' endometrium. The uterine tissues from 24 Landrace x Yorkshire gilts identified as acute endometritis (n = 7), chronic endometritis (n = 7), and normal endometrium (n = 10) were included. The tissues were prepared for both histological and immunohistochemical investigations. The immunoexpression of COX-2 in every layer of the gilts' endometria was appraised by avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex method via image analysis; and was reported as percentage of positive area and staining index. The results revealed that the immunoexpression of COX-2 was found only in the surface epithelial layer. The gilts with acute endometritis possessed higher both percentage of positive area (68.99% versus 4.50% and 3.43%, P < 0.001) and staining index (1.13 versus 0.05 and 0.04, P < 0.001) than those with chronic endometritis and normal endometrium, respectively. Positive correlations between the number of surface epithelial neutrophils and percentage of COX-2 positive area (r = 0.47, P = 0.022), as well as mean staining index (r = 0.44, P = 0.032) were observed. In conclusion, the immunoexpression of COX-2 was found strongest in the gilts with acute endometritis, meanwhile it was not different between those with chronic endometritis and normal endometrium. This suggested that the expression of COX-2 might be dependent not only on the infiltration of local immune cells in the endometrium, but also on the duration of exposure with inflammatory agents.
authors: Departments of Obstetrics, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand.
authors: Atthaporn
authors: A
authors: Roongsitthichai
authors: Sayamon
authors: S
authors: Srisuwatanasagul
authors: Seri
authors: S
authors: Koonjaenak
authors: Padet
authors: P
authors: Tummaruk
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D004716:Endometritis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000378:metabolism; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2