THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE PRESENCE OF P16-POSITIVE CELLS IN HUMAN ENDOMETRIUM DURING THE MID-LUTEAL PHASE AND WOMAN’S AGE
DIMITAR PARVANOV*1, RUMIANA GANEVA1, DRAGOMIRA NIKOLOVA2, NINA VIDOLOVA1, GEORGI STAMENOV1
1Nadezhda Women’s Health Hospital, 3 “Blaga vest” Street, Sofia, Bulgaria
2Department of Medical Genetics, Medical Faculty, Medical University – Sofia
*Corresponding author: dimparvanov@abv.bg
Keywords: p16 senescent cells, human endometrium, age, immunohistochemistry
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to assess the association between the abundance of p16-positive senescent cells in the endometrial compartments during the mid-luteal phase and woman’s age. This observational study includes 350 fertile women aged between 24 and 56 years who had an endometrial biopsy during the mid-luteal phase (7 days after LH surge) of the natural cycle. Endometrial biopsies were obtained and tissue sections were stained with an antibody against p16INK4a. Statistical analysis was performed by Spearman’s correlation test using SPSS v.21 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).
No correlation was found between the frequencies of occurrence of p16+ stromal cells and the woman’s age (R=0.056; p=0.61). In contrast, the frequencies of occurrence of p16+ glandular cells and p16+ luminal epithelial cells showed significant correlation with woman’s age (R=0.38; p<0.01 and R=0.47; p<0.01, respectively).
In conclusion, we found a significant age-dependent increase in the presence of p16-positive senescent cells in the glands and luminal epithelium of the human endometrium. This rise is more evident in the luminal epithelium in comparison to the endometrial glands.