Morphological features and the functional state of connective tissue of the uterine rudiments in reproductive age patients with Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome

Introduction. Female patients with Mayer–Rokitansky–Küster–Hauser syndrome (MRKH) have high stigma scores; the condition severely affects the reproductive system. The study aimed at specification of morphological features and assessment of the maturity of connective tissues of the uterine rudiments in MRKH. Patients and methods. The study included 42 patients with vaginal and uterine aplasia having functioning uterine rudiments and 47 patients of the control group without genital malformations. Age of the patients was 20-24 years in 67.2% of the cases, and 31.2% of the patients were aged ≤ 19, inclusive. Immunohistochemi-cal assay was applied to determine expression levels of collagen I, collagen III, ММР2, ММР9, TIMP1, fibronectin and laminin proteins within the functioning uterine rudiments in comparison with levels of the same proteins in normally developed uterine tissues. Results. Decreased expression of collagen type I and elevated levels of MMP2 and MMP9 proteins in uterine tissues were observed for the group of patients with MRKH. Conclusions. 1) Uterine rudiments in patients with MRKH show variable degree of morphological similarity with the normally developed uterus; 2) The functioning uterine rudiments are subject to the same pathological processes as the normally developed uterus (myoma, endometriosis). 3) The functioning uterine rudiments in patients with MRKH show altered patterns of connective tissue remodeling, with decreased expression of collagen type I and increased expression of matrix metalloproteinases MMP2 and MMP9. Keywords: Müllerian aplasia, uterine rudiments, metalloproteinases, connective tissue remodeling, ММР2, ММР9