TY - JOUR
T1 - Quantification of nucleolar channel systems
T2 - Uniform presence throughout the upper endometrial cavity
AU - Szmyga, Michael J.
AU - Rybak, Eli A.
AU - Nejat, Edward J.
AU - Banks, Erika H.
AU - Whitney, Kathleen D.
AU - Polotsky, Alex J.
AU - Heller, Debra S.
AU - Meier, U. Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank Nanette Santoro (University of Colorado, Denver, Colorado) for her support of their work and for critical comments on the manuscript. They acknowledge the assistance of the Gynecology Service attending physicians and house staff at Montefiore Medical Center in enrolling hysterectomy specimens for this study. The authors are grateful to the Surgical Pathology staff at Montefiore Medical Center, Weiler Division (Charles Fernandez, Duhane McGregor, and Lin Zhang) for their assistance in obtaining the endometrial tissue sections. Statistical support was provided by the Einstein-Montefiore Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. All imaging was performed at the Analytical Imaging Facility and all slides prepared by the Histotechnology and Comparative Pathology Facility of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
Funding Information:
M.J.S. has nothing to disclose. E.A.R. has nothing to disclose. E.J.N. has nothing to disclose. E.H.B. has nothing to disclose. K.D.W. has nothing to disclose. A.J.P. has an unrestricted research grant from Bayer (unrelated to the submitted work). D.S.H. has been reimbursed for travel to speak at meetings for the College of American Pathologists and International Society for the Study of Vulvar Disease, receives minimal book royalties, and provides occasional medicolegal expert testimony (all unrelated to the submitted work). U.T.M. has nothing to disclose.
Funding Information:
Supported by the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation (no. 1-FY09-363 to U.T.M.) and CMBG Training Program ( T32 GM007491 to M.J.S.).
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Objective: To determine the prevalence of nucleolar channel systems (NCSs) by uterine region, applying continuous quantification. Design: Prospective clinical study. Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center. Patient(s): Forty-two naturally cycling women who underwent hysterectomy for benign indications. Intervention(s): NCS presence was quantified by a novel method in six uterine regions - fundus, left cornu, right cornu, anterior body, posterior body, and lower uterine segment (LUS) - with the use of indirect immunofluorescence. Main Outcome Measure(s): Percentage of endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) with NCSs per uterine region. Result(s): NCS quantification was observer independent (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.96) and its intrasample variability low (coefficient of variation 0.06). Eleven of 42 hysterectomy specimens were midluteal, ten of which were analyzable with nine containing >5% EECs with NCSs in at least one region. The percentage of EECs with NCSs varied significantly between the LUS (6.1%; interquartile range [IQR] 3.0-9.9) and the upper five regions (16.9%; IQR 12.7-23.4), with fewer NCSs in the basal layer of the endometrium (17 ± 6%) versus the middle (46 ± 9%) and luminal layers (38 ± 9%) of all six regions. Conclusion(s): NCS quantification during the midluteal phase demonstrates uniform presence throughout the endometrial cavity, excluding the LUS, with a preference for the functional luminal layers. Our quantitative NCS evaluation provides a benchmark for future studies and further supports NCS presence as a potential marker for the window of implantation.
AB - Objective: To determine the prevalence of nucleolar channel systems (NCSs) by uterine region, applying continuous quantification. Design: Prospective clinical study. Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center. Patient(s): Forty-two naturally cycling women who underwent hysterectomy for benign indications. Intervention(s): NCS presence was quantified by a novel method in six uterine regions - fundus, left cornu, right cornu, anterior body, posterior body, and lower uterine segment (LUS) - with the use of indirect immunofluorescence. Main Outcome Measure(s): Percentage of endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) with NCSs per uterine region. Result(s): NCS quantification was observer independent (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.96) and its intrasample variability low (coefficient of variation 0.06). Eleven of 42 hysterectomy specimens were midluteal, ten of which were analyzable with nine containing >5% EECs with NCSs in at least one region. The percentage of EECs with NCSs varied significantly between the LUS (6.1%; interquartile range [IQR] 3.0-9.9) and the upper five regions (16.9%; IQR 12.7-23.4), with fewer NCSs in the basal layer of the endometrium (17 ± 6%) versus the middle (46 ± 9%) and luminal layers (38 ± 9%) of all six regions. Conclusion(s): NCS quantification during the midluteal phase demonstrates uniform presence throughout the endometrial cavity, excluding the LUS, with a preference for the functional luminal layers. Our quantitative NCS evaluation provides a benchmark for future studies and further supports NCS presence as a potential marker for the window of implantation.
KW - Nucleolar channel system (NCS)
KW - endometrium
KW - receptivity
KW - secretory transformation
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U2 - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.10.027
DO - 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.10.027
M3 - Article
C2 - 23137760
AN - SCOPUS:84873313400
SN - 0015-0282
VL - 99
SP - 558
EP - 564
JO - Fertility and Sterility
JF - Fertility and Sterility
IS - 2
ER -