Epithelial localization of antiendometrial antibodies associated with endometriosis.

Antiendometrial antibodies have been demonstrated in patients with endometriosis. As a further step in understanding the immunological alterations against the endometrium, isolated glandular and stromal monolayer endometrial cell preparations and endometrial, breast, and ovarian carcinoma cell lines were tested by indirect immunofluorescence assay utilizing sera of patients with endometriosis previously shown to have antibodies against endometrium. In dilutions of serum of 1:1 to 1:16, significant fluorescence staining was noted only in the glandular (epithelial) component and not in the stromal component of normal endometrium without regard to phase of the menstrual cycle. The significance of this finding as it relates to the pathophysiology of endometriosis awaits further study.