ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the viability and the characteristics of shed endometrial tissues obtained from menstrual fluid during in-vitro culture. METHODS: The menstrual fluids were collected using Wallace catheter from uterine cavity in 10 women with regular menstruation. The menstrual fluids were washed twice, and the pellets, containing blood cells and shed endometrium, were collected and diluted fivefold with Ham's F-10 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. The cell suspension was placed on culture dishes, and cultured for 7 days in an incubator. To evaluate the characteristics of the cultured endometrial cells, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was performed using anti-cytokeratin and anti-vimentin antibody. RESULTS: The mean volume of menstrual fluids and pellets were 0.7ml and 0.3ml, respectively. Only 15% of the shed endometrial tissues were attached and proliferated in culture dishes, which was considered to have viability. Initially, endometrial epithelial cells and fibroblasts were attached and proliferated, and the area of these cells was increased according to prolong the culture time. Stromal cell colonys were located and proliferated on the epithelial cells. IHC staining showed strongly positive for cytokeratin in epithelial cells and for vimentin in stromal cells. In the confocal microscopic observation of 3-dimensional structure of cultured endometrium, cytokeratin-positive cells (epithelial cells) were located in the pheriphery and cytokeratin-negative cells (stromal cells) inside of the structure. CONCLUSION: From our study, shed endometrial tissues in menstrual fluid showed meaningful viability and closed relationship between epithelial cells and stromal cells during in-vitro culture. Thus, we suggest that the in-vitro culture system of shed endometrium is a suitable model for researches of endometriosis.