Production of interleukins 1beta, 6 and 8 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in separated and cultured endometrial and endometriotic stromal and epithelial cells

The production of IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-alpha was studied in short-time culture of separated stromal and epithelial cells. The cytokine secretion into culture medium was analyzed using immunoassay to evaluate the cytokine protein levels and bioassay to assess the bioactivity of the cytokines. Tissue samples of endometrium and ovarian endometriomas were obtained from 4 patients operated on for clinical reasons. Only IL-8 was found in all samples. IL-1beta and TNF-alpha were detected in the culture medium from most stromal cell samples, but in fewer media from epithelial cell samples. IL-6 was measurable in a few medium samples. Few of the samples displayed a bioactivity. There was no obvious difference between endometrium and endometriotic cell samples besides the production of IL-8 that seems to be lower in endometriotic tissue.