Abstract

Background: Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disorder in which endometrial cells that are in the normal state of the uterus are seen outside the uterus. The disease is one of the most common and costly diseases in women with an estimated 176 million female infections in the world and a financial burden of about 11 billion dollars per year. In addition to existing therapies, the use of epigenetic factors, and in particular, assessment of the expression of microRNAs is effective in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of miR-135b in endometriosis, so that through identifying changes in these microRNAs, it could be used in diagnosis and treatment. Methods: From 25 cases with endometriosis and 25 healthy subjects (control) tissue and serum samples were taken. First, RNA extraction was performed and then, using the polyA reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (polyA RT-PCR) and real-time polymerase chain reaction, miR-135b expression was investigated. Findings: The expression of mir-135b significantly increased in endometrial tissue of patients with endometriosis in both ectopic and uterine tissues compared to healthy women; while the expression of this microRNA in the serum samples of patients decreased compared to control group. Conclusion: Considering significant changes in both eutopic/ectopic samples and serum samples in patients with endometriosis compared with controls, miR-135b may be considered as a diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker for endometriosis. © 2018, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.