IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF SECRETORY COMPONENT AND IGA IN THE HUMAN ENDOMETRIUM IN RELATION TO MENSTRUAL CYCLE

Abstract

To define the changes in the distribution of secretory component (SC) and IgA in the endometrium associated with the menstrual cycle, and endometrial tissues of 25 cases showing a normal menstrual cycle were immunohistochemically investigated by the peroxidase-labeled antibody method. SC was found in the epithelial cells of endometrial glands and the secretion within their lumen. In the functional layer, the staining intensity was very weak during the period from the proliferative to the early secretory phases, and much increased in the mid and late secretory phases. In the basal layer, however, SC was rather strong and did not change throughout the menstrual cycle. The epithelial staining of IgA resembled that of SC, the staining intensity, however, was much weaker than that of SC. In addition, IgA also was stained in the endometrial stroma as well as vascular lumens and plasma cells.
Based on the above results, it is suggested that SC-mediated transcellular transport of IgA occurs across the epithelial cells of endometrial glands, and that it is regulated by the menstrual cycle.