Differential expression and localization of endometrial AR in women with and without PCOS. Representative Western blot analysis of AR (#5153) expression in human endometrial tissues in vivo (A). Values are expressed as mean ± SEM. * p < 0.05 compared to non-PCOS; #
p < 0.05 compared to the proliferative phase. The percentages of AR-positive cases in each group are shown. Comparison of immunohistochemical staining for AR (#5153) expression in the proliferative phase of women without PCOS (B1 and B2) and with PCOS (C1 and C2), in the secretory phase of women without PCOS (D1 and D2) and with PCOS (E1 and E2), and in women with hyperplasia without PCOS (F1 and F2) and in women with both PCOS and hyperplasia (G1 and G2). Of note, although the epithelial AR staining displays a heterogeneous pattern, nuclear expression of AR was detected in glandular epithelial cells in the proliferative phase of women without PCOS and without hyperplasia (B1), in women with hyperplasia but without PCOS (F2), and in women with both hyperplasia and PCOS (G2). The brown spots represent nuclei AR-positive glandular epithelial cells that heterogeneously coexist with AR-negative glandular epithelial cells. The numbers 1 and 2 represent images from two different patients. The findings illustrated are representative of those observed in numerous sections from multiple endometrial tissues. LE, luminal epithelial cells; GE, glandular epithelial cells; Str, stromal cells.