Background: Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent inflammatory disease that often causes infertility and chronic pelvic pain. Although endometriosis is known as a benign disease, it has demonstrated characteristics of malignant neoplasms, including neoangiogenesis, tissue invasion, and cell implantation to distant organs. Octamer-binding protein 4 (Oct-4) is a molecular marker for stem cells that plays an essential role in maintaining pluripotency and self–renewal processes in various types of benign and malignant tissues. CD44 is a multifunctional cell surface adhesion molecule that acts as an integral cell membrane protein and plays a role in cell–cell and cell–matrix interactions. E-cadherin is an epithelial cell–cell adhesion molecule that plays important role in the modulation of cell polarization, cell migration, and cancer metastasis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of Oct-4, CD44, and E-cadherin in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissues from women with endometrioma compared to control endometrial tissues from women without endometrioma.Methods: In the present study, Oct-4, CD44, and E-cadherin expressions were evaluated in eutopic and ectopic endometrial tissue samples from women with endometrioma (n = 32) and compared with those of control endometrial tissue samples from women without endometrioma (n = 30).Results: Immunohistochemical expression of Oct-4 was significantly higher in the ectopic endometrial tissue samples of women with endometrioma than in the control endometrial tissue samples (p = 0.0002). Conversely, CD44 and E-cadherin expressions were significantly lower in the ectopic endometrial tissue samples of women with endometrioma than in the control endometrial tissue samples (p = 0.0137 andp = 0.0060, respectively). Correlation analysis demonstrated significant correlations between Oct-4 expression and endometrioma cyst diameter (p = 0.0162), rASRM stage (p = 0.0343), and total rASRM score (p = 0.0223). Moreover, CD44 expression was negatively correlated with the presence of peritoneal endometriotic lesions (p = 0.0304) while E-cadherin expression was negatively correlated with the presence of deep infiltrating endometriosis (p = 0.0445).Conclusions: Increased expression of Oct-4 and decreased expression of adhesion molecules in endometriotic tissues may contribute to the development and progression of endometriosis.

Objectives: To investigate the fibrinogen/albumin ratio (FAR) of pregnant women with abortus imminens (AI) and its prognostic value for predicting spontaneous abortion. Methods: A total 102 early pregnancies, 52 had been diagnosed with AI and 50 ages and body mass index matched healthy control pregnant women were included in this prospective observational study conducted in the Research and Training Hospital, Balikesir University, Balikesir, Turkey between September 2019 and August 2020. Fibrinogen/albumin values were compared between AI and control group. Results: The rate of spontaneous abortion in AI pregnancies was 26.9% in our study population. Fibrinogen/albumin ratio levels were higher in AI pregnancies than in controls (p=0.0088). The regression analysis have shown that the increased FAR value (odds ratio [OR]: 7.3116 [95% CI: 1.3119 to 40.7507]; p=0.0232) was an independent marker for spontaneous abortion prediction in AI pregnancies. Conclusion: Pregnancies with AI have increased levels of FAR compared to healthy pregnancies. Fibrinogen/albumin ratio is an independent marker for predicting spontaneous abortion.

Backround HPV causes specific cell-mediated immunity in the cervix. Mononuclear cells such as helper T cells (CD4+), cytotoxic T cells (CD8+), and dendritic cells play a critical role in the initiation of the HPV-specific immune response and destruction of virus-infected cervical epithelial cells. The programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) gene encodes an immune inhibitory receptor ligand and overexpression of PD-L1 inhibits T-cell activation and cytokine production. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of PD-L1 in cervical tissue and its correlation with clinicopathological findings. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 94 women who were referred for colposcopy due to abnormal Papanicolaou (PAP) test results and/or HPV positivity were evaluated. The presence of HR-HPV-DNA was analyzed using type- and gene-specific primers along with commercial real-time polymerase chain reaction. The cervical examination was done with a colposcope. Cervical biopsies were obtained from the areas that were evaluated as abnormal during the colposcopy. Histopathological result of cervical biopsies were defined as no intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 0), mild CIN (CIN I), and moderate-to-high CIN (CIN II-III). All women were classified into four groups based on their HR-HPV positivity and cervical biopsy results: Group I (controls;n = 29), HR-HPV (-) CIN 0; Group II (n = 21), HR-HPV (+) CIN 0; Group III (n = 20), HR-HPV (+) CIN I; and Group IV (n = 24), HR-HPV (+) CIN II-III. A semi-quantitative scoring system was used to evaluate the degree of Ki-67, p16, and PD-L1 immunoreactivity in the cervical tissue samples. Results We found that PD-L1 expression in both mononuclear cells and in cervical epithelial cells gradually increases from the HR-HPV (-), CIN 0 group to the HR-HPV (+), CIN II-III group (p = 0.0003 andp = 0.0394, respectively) and mononuclear PD-L1 expression was correlated with HPV type, initial Pap test results, HPV persistence, and CIN persistence or recurrence (p = 0.0180,p = 0.0109,p = 0.0042, andp = 0.0189, respectively). Moreover, mononuclear PD-L1 expression was also correlated with Ki-67 and p16 immunoreactivity (p = 0.0432 andp = 0.0166, respectively). Epithelial PD-L1 expression was only correlated with HPV type and the presence of HPV persistence (p = 0.0122 andp = 0.0292, respectively). Conclusion During the initial evaluation of the cervical histology results, the assessment of PD-L1 expression-especially in mononuclear cells in cervical tissue samples-may provide more information on the progression of HR-HPV infection and its persistence.

Fetal vascular malperfusion is associated with poor perinatal outcomes in women with preeclampsia and gestational diabetes mellitus. The aim of this study was to determine the association between fetal vascular malperfusion score and syncytiotrophoblast basement membrane thickness and clinicopathological variables, such as developing preeclampsia in women with gestational diabetes mellitus.