Objective: To explore the secretion of chemokine regulated upon activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) influenced by the complex microenvironment in the peritoneal cavity of women with endometriosis and investigate chemotaxis of RANTES on the peritoneal monocytes.
Methods: The contact and non-contact co-culture systems including three target cells of ectopic tissue were established. The three target cells were endometrial stromal cells (ESC), human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) and monocytes. After collection of the supernatant of co-culture systems, the levels of RANTES were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Migration of U937 cell, a monocyte line, was detected by chemotaxis assay.
Results: ESC, HPMC, and U937 cultured alone secreted slight RANTES, (5.0 +/- 0.5), (4.0 +/- 0.3), and (254 +/- 40) ng/L. Compared with the culture of the target cell alone, the levels of RANTES in each co-culture system increased significantly, with the highest level in the contact culture system of E-H-U (2250 +/- 96) ng/L. RANTES secretion of non-contact co-culture of three cells were higher than contact co-culture of two cells (P < 0.01): U/E-H (912 +/- 93) vs E-H (50 +/- 40) ng/L, H/E-U (1201 +/- 93) vs E-U (243 +/- 192) ng/L,and E/H-U(1519 +/- 96) vs H-U (1251 +/- 73) ng/L. ESC, HPMC, and ESC-HPMC co-culture improved significantly migration of U937 cells [number of cell migration respectively (6.0 +/- 0.3), (6.2 +/- 0. 3) , (10.0 +/- 0.3) x 10(3), P < 0.01], which could be inhibited efficiently by anti-RANTES neutralizing antibody.
Conclusion: The target cells in the peritoneal cavity of patients with endometriosis promote the secretion of RANTES in autocrine and paracrine manners and migration of monocytes.