TFF3 May Be Involved in Endometriosis Research Suggests

They found that the levels of local TFF3 in the mice were significantly elevated up to four weeks after transplantation (corresponding to early endometriosis). This increase also matched to an increase in the weight of the animals’ spleen, which is a sign of systemic inflammation.

Levels of a protein called TFF3 are significantly increased in the peritoneal cavity (the abdominal space) of women with endometriosis, found a study published in the scientific journal Reproductive Sciences.

This increase was in line with levels of other known biomarkers of endometriosis such as cancer antigen (CA) 125, CA-19-9, interleukin 8, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, and matrix metalloproteinase 7.

In addition, the levels of the TFF3 protein in the blood of women were significantly influenced by the menstrual cycle but not by whether or not women had endometriosis.

For the study, a team of researchers led by Dr. Isabella Gashaw at Global Drug Discovery, Bayer Pharma AG in Berlin, Germany obtained peritoneal fluid from 35 women with endometriosis and 16 healthy controls. They also collected blood samples from 124 women, of which 80 had endometriosis and 44 did not. They then measured the levels of TFF3 protein both in the peritoneal fluid and blood of the women and compares these levels between women who had endometriosis and those who did not. Their main purpose was to investigate the power of this protein to serve an endometriosis biomarker. 

The researchers also induced endometriosis in female mice by transplanting uterine tissue in their abdomen. (Endometriosis is characterized by the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus.)

They found that the levels of local TFF3 in the mice were significantly elevated up to four weeks after transplantation (corresponding to early endometriosis). This increase also matched to an increase in the weight of the animals’ spleen, which is a sign of systemic inflammation.

The researchers concluded that TFF3 might play a role in the development of endometriosis through inflammation. “This study provides the first evidence that TFF3 is locally elevated in the peritoneal cavity in endometriosis and might play a role in disease pathogenesis and its associated inflammatory processes,” they wrote.

Although the exact function of TFF3 is not known, it is thought to be protective the mucosa from insults and play a role in the healing of the epithelium. The protein is expressed in different tissues and research has shown that its expression goes up in many cancers including endometrial cancer.

According to the authors, more research is needed to understand the exact role that TFF3 plays in endometriosis and how it is regulated during the menstrual cycle.

Research Source: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1933719116653676