Figure 2.
Gelatinase activity of MMP-9 but not MMP-2 was decreased in peritoneal macrophages isolated from patients with endometriosis. A and B: Analysis of the time effect on the activation of peritoneal macrophages in terms of gelatinase activity. Macrophages (2 × 105 cells/well) isolated from patients with endometriosis were plated in 24-well plates for the indicated time and culture media were collected for zymographic analysis. A: A representative zymographic picture revealed that the enzymatic activity of MMP-9 secreted by peritoneal macrophages was elevated along with time of culture. B: The means of relative intensity units of MMP-9 obtained from four different samples. Because the gelatinase activity proportionally increases between 12 and 24 hours after attachment, we thus empirically chose 16 hours as the time for all of the following experiments. C: A representative zymographic picture shows a decrease in MMP-9 but not MMP-2 enzymatic activity along with the severity of endometriosis. Six batches of peritoneal macrophages isolated from normal (N), early-stage endometriosis (EE), and severe-stage endometriosis (SE) women, respectively, were subjected to zymographic analyses and the results were similar. D: A representative zymographic picture shows gelatinase activity of MMP-9 in cultured media of macrophages isolated from PF and peripheral blood (PB). Three batches of macrophages isolated from peripheral blood of normal (N), early-stage endometriosis (EE), and severe-stage endometriosis (SE) women were subjected to zymographic analyses and the results were similar.