Effect of lps on regulatory t cell induction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of endometriosis patients

Mahsa Tanha,1,* Shohreh nikoo,2 Tahereh naji,3 Amir-hassan zarnani,4

1. Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University (IAUPS )
2. Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
3. Department of Molecular and Cellular Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University (IAUPS )
4. Reproductive Immunology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent chronic inflammatory disease affecting women of reproductive age. regulatory t cells (treg) may play a part in the immunopathogenesis of endometriosis. lipopolysaccharide (lps), a bacterial endotoxin and initiator of inflammatory responses, can regulate toll-like receptor-4 (tlr-4) mediated growth of endometriosis. there is evidence regarding the upregulation of tlr-4 on the surface of monocytes, as well as increased activity of tregs. we were about to investigate lps impacts on treg and foxp3 induction in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (pbmcs) of endometriosis patients.

Methods

The study included six women with laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis and six non-endometriosis controls. pbmcs were isolated by ficoll-hypaque and cultured in the presence and absence of lps (100 ng/ml) for 48 hours. the frequency of tregs and expression of foxp3 was investigated using flow cytometry.

Results

We observed no marked differences between the endometriosis and non-endometriosis groups with respect to the percentage of tregs in the presence of lps; however, lps treatment significantly increased foxp3 expression in cd4+ t cells of endometriosis as compared to the non-endometriosis group.

Conclusion

This is the first study reporting that lps is able to increase the level of foxp3, a key treg transcription factor, in peripheral blood t cells of endometriosis patients using flow cytometry; our results are line with previous studies reporting higher foxp3 expression in endometriotic tissues using histological experiments. in general, these data propose the potential capacity of lps to promote the pathogenesis of endometriosis through increasing foxp3 expression. further studies on the suppressive functions of either tissue or peripheral blood tregs of endometriosis patient would further clarify the exact mechanisms.

Keywords

Endometriosis, pbmc, lps, regulatory t cells, foxp3