Effect of pregnancy and endometriosis on peritoneal IL-2 and IFN-γ.

<p>Mice with surgically induced endometriosis (EDT; N = 20, 11 pregnant) and sham animals (N = 18, 14 pregnant) were mated and sacrificed at day 18 of pregnancy. Levels of IL-2 (A), and IFN-γ (B) were assessed in the peritoneal fluid by ELISA. Statistical comparisons were performed by two way ANOVA test followed by Tukey HSD test for unequal sample size. * p<0.05</p

Effect of pregnancy on endometriotic lesions.

<p><i>Note</i>: Statistical comparisons were performed by Chi-square test. Values are the percentage of lesions that showed signs of leukocyte infiltration, necrosis, decidualization or endometrial involution.</p><p>^a Pregnant vs. non pregnant</p><p>Effect of pregnancy on endometriotic lesions.</p

Effect of pregnancy on apoptosis in endometriotic lesions.

<p>The percentage of apoptotic cells was assessed by TUNEL in epithelial (A) and stromal (B) cells from pregnant (N = 11) and non pregnant (N = 9) mice. Micrographs (C-E) show representative histological sections of endometriotic lesions from pregnant (C) and non pregnant (D) mice. Arrows indicate marked cells. As a negative control, a tissue sample was subjected to treatment without TdT (E). Scale bar indicates 100 μm. Statistical comparisons were performed by Student “t” test. * p<0.05 pregnant vs. non pregnant; *** p<0.001 pregnant vs. non pregnant.</p

Effect of pregnancy on the number and size of endometriotic lesions.

<p>Mice with surgical induced endometriosis were mated and sacrificed at day 18 of pregnancy. The number of endometriotic lesions per mouse (A) and the size of endometriotic lesions (B) in pregnant (N = 11) and non pregnant (N = 9) mice were assessed. Statistical comparisons were performed by Student “t” test. * p<0.05 pregnant vs. non pregnant</p

Effect of pregnancy on cell proliferation in endometriotic lesions.

<p>The percentage of proliferating cells was assessed by immunohistochemistry for PCNA in epithelial (A) and stromal (B) cells from pregnant (N = 11) and non pregnant (N = 9) mice. Micrographs (C-E) show representative histological sections of endometriotic lesions from pregnant (C) and non pregnant (D) mice. Arrows indicate marked cells. As a negative control, immunoglobulin of the same immunoglobulin class and concentration as the primary antibody was used (E). Scale bar indicates 100 μm. Statistical comparisons were performed by Student “t” test. * p<0.05 pregnant vs. non pregnant.</p

Effect of endometriosis on fertility.

<p>^a Statistical comparisons were performed by Student “t” test</p><p>^b Statistical comparisons were performed by Chi-square test</p><p>^c Sham vs. Endometriosis</p><p>Effect of endometriosis on fertility.</p

Mouse syngeneic model of endometriosis and experimental design.

<p>Mouse syngeneic model of endometriosis and experimental design.</p