Analysis of cervical mucosal epithelium proliferation during the postmenopausal period
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15584/ejcem.2025.1.10Keywords:
Cervix, Ki-67, postmenopausal period, proliferative growthAbstract
Introduction and aim. This study explores the proliferative growth of cervical mucosal epithelial cells during the postmeno pausal period, offering new insights on age-related changes in cervical tissues, a topic previously under-examined in post menopausal health research. By employing histologic analysis, immunostaining techniques, and Ki-67 mitotic index assess ment, this research provides novel data on the alterations in cervical epithelial cells during and after menopause. The findings enhance our understanding of the biological processes affecting cervical health in the postmenopausal phase, which is increas ingly significant as the global population ages and emphasizes the need for tailored healthcare approaches. The primary goal was to investigate the proliferative growth of cervical mucosal epithelial cells in postmenopausal women by assessment of Ki 67 gene activity in progesterone-positive cells in normal and pathological postmenopausal periods (PMPs) in the presence or absence of autonomic symptoms, manifested by mood instability, headaches and dizziness.
Material and methods. This research involved analyzing tissue samples from 149 postmenopausal women with suspicion of malignancy using histologic and immunostaining methods to evaluate epithelial cell proliferation markers, with the Ki-67 mi totic index as a key measure. The average activity of the Ki-67 gene was evaluated using the global scoring method, with Ki-67 percentages below 2.5% considered low. Statistical analysis included both parametric and non-parametric methods, specifi cally Student’s t and Wilcoxon’s tests.
Results. The study found a reduction in the proliferative activity of cervical mucosal epithelial cells during the normal post menopausal period, indicated by a significant decrease in Ki-67 expression in the exocervical zone and during the first year in the transformation zone and the endocervix (p<0.01).
Conclusion. Understanding the proliferative growth of cervical mucosal epithelial cells during the postmenopausal period helps to understand the dynamics of age-related cervical tissue. These results can lead to better prevention and monitoring strategies for cervical health in postmenopausal women.
Supporting Agencies
The study was supported by the FEFU's program Priority-2030 and federal program Student startup.Downloads
References
Fedorova AI, Novikov EI, Grin EA, et al. The role of chronic cervicitis and disorders of local immunity of the cervix in the etiology of undeveloped pregnancy. Gynecology. 2021;23(6):509-515. doi 10.26442/20795696.2021.6.201259
Shakhabova HR, Palieva NV, Petrov YA, et al. Inflammation of the uterus and reproductive disorders in women. Chief physician of the South of Russia. 2022;2(83):17-21.
Barrios De Tomasi J, Opata MM, Mowa CN. Immunity in the Cervix: Interphase between Immune and Cervical Epithelial Cells. J Immunol Res. 2019;2019:7693183. doi: 10.1155/2019/7693183
Li C, Hua K. Dissecting the Single-Cell Transcriptome Network of Immune Environment Underlying Cervical Premalignant Lesion, Cervical Cancer and Metastatic Lymph Nodes. Front Immunol. 2022;13:897366. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.897366
Kaliterna V, Barisic Z. Genital human papillomavirus infections. Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2018;23(9):1587-1611. doi: 10.2741/4662
Tang J, Li M, Zhao C, et al. Therapeutic DNA Vaccines against HPV-Related Malignancies: Promising Leads from Clinical Trials. Viruses. 2022;14(2):239. doi:10.3390/v14020239
Wahid M, Dar SA, Jawed A, et al. Microbes in gynecologic cancers: Causes or consequences and therapeutic potential. Semin Cancer Biol. 2022;86(2):1179-1189. doi: 10.1016/j.semcancer.2021.07.013
Demura TA, Kogan EA, Kossovich YM, et al. Morphological and molecular criteria of endometrial receptivity disorders in patients with infertility associated with chronic endometritis. Archives of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2018;5(1):19-25. doi: 10.18821/2313-8726-2018-5-1-19-25
Ryzhkov VV, Khazhbiev AA, Derevyanko TI, et al. Some modern aspects of the clinical course, diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases of the urogenital system of women. Tavricheskiy medico-biological bulletin. 2017;20(2):135-139.
Lee SJ, Yang A, Wu TC, et al. Immunotherapy for human papillomavirus-associated disease and cervical cancer: review of clinical and translational research. J Gynecol Oncol. 2016;27(5):e51. doi: 10.3802/jgo.2016.27.e51
Xu XQ, Guo L, Wang X, et al. Human Cervical Epithelial Cells Release Antiviral Factors and Inhibit HIV Replication in Macrophages. J Innate Immun. 2019;11(1):29-40. doi: 10.1159/000490586
Zhang J, Meng S, Zhang X, et al. Infiltration Patterns of Cervical Epithelial Microenvironment Cells During Carcinogenesis. Front Immunol. 2022;13:888176. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.888176
Goldštajn MŠ, Mikuš M, Ferrari FA, et al. Effects of transdermal versus oral hormone replacement therapy in postmenopause: a systematic review. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2023;307(6):1727-1745. doi: 10.1007/s00404-022-06647-5
Budhwani M, Lukowski SW, Porceddu SV, et al. Dysregulation of Stemness Pathways in HPV Mediated Cervical Malignant Transformation Identifies Potential Oncotherapy Targets. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2020;10:307. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.00307
Ferrari FA, Magni F, Bosco M, et al. The Role of Micronutrients in Human Papillomavirus Infection, Cervical Dysplasia, and Neoplasm. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11(11): 1652. doi: 10.3390/healthcare11111652
Jackson R, Lukacs JD, Zehbe I. The Potentials and Pitfalls of a Human Cervical Organoid Model Including Langerhans Cells. Viruses. 2020;12(12):1375. doi: 10.3390/v12121375
Reva I, Shcheglov B, Puga D, et al. Quantitative dynamics of immunocompetent cells in the structure of epithelial differons of the cervix in women of older age groups. Higher School: Scientific Research: Proceedings of the Interuniversity International Congress, Moscow. 2023;2:33-37.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 European Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Our open access policy is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition: this means that articles have free availability on the public Internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from having access to the Internet itself.
All articles are published with free open access under the CC-BY Creative Commons attribution license (the current version is CC-BY, version 4.0). If you submit your paper for publication by the Eur J Clin Exp Med, you agree to have the CC-BY license applied to your work. Under this Open Access license, you, as the author, agree that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. This facilitates freedom in re-use and also ensures that Eur J Clin Exp Med content can be mined without barriers for the research needs.
