Infertility: Expression of heat shock protein 70 kDa in human endometrium of normal and infertile women

Abstract

The expression of heat shock protein (hsp) 70 was investigated in endometrial samples from patients with unexplained infertility associated (n = 5) or not associated (n = 10) with endometriosis, and compared with a control group consisting of fertile women (n = 27) with reported menstrual disturbance. The expression of hsp, and in particular hsp 70, is up-regulated in response to many physico-biochemical insults as well as infection and possibly oncogenic transformation and is a good indicator of a biological system under stress. A significant over-expression of hsp 70 was found in the infertile groups (P < 0.001), suggesting that a stress response may be involved in the aetiology of unexplained infertility irrespective of the presence of endometriosis.