1. A selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor suppresses the growth of endometriosis with an antiangiogenic effect in a rat model 
Daniel Escorsim Machado, M.Sc., Plínio Tostes Berardo, M.D., Ph.D., Richardt Gama Landgraf, Ph.D., Patrícia Dias Fernandes, Ph.D., Celia Palmero, M.Sc., Leandro Miranda Alves, Ph.D., Maurício Simões Abrao, M.D., Ph.D., Luiz Eurico Nasciutti, Ph.D. 
Fertility and Sterility 
Volume 93, Issue 8, Pages (May 2010)
DOI: /j.fertnstert
Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine Terms and Conditions

2. Figure 1
Macroscopic analyses of endometriotic lesions established after 15 days (A, C) and treated (D) or not (B) for 30 days with parecoxib. The endometriotic lesions were cystic (arrows), resembling human peritoneal endometriosis; after the treatment, there was a drastic decrease in the growth of the lesions (arrowheads) and no detectable difference in the size of the lesions of the untreated group (∗). Measurements of the lesion area showed a statistically significant difference between the groups. Data are presented as medians ± 75% quartiles. The P value obtained in the Mann-Whitney U test was indicated (E).
Fertility and Sterility  , DOI: ( /j.fertnstert )
Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine Terms and Conditions

3. Figure 2
Expression of mRNA encoding for VEGF and Flk-1 in eutopic endometrium and endometriotic lesions as assayed by RT-PCR (A) and densitometry of bands (B). Lane 1, eutopic endometrium; lane 2, endometriosis; lane 3, eutopic endometrium treated with parecoxib; lane 4, treated endometriosis. The levels of mRNA transcripts of VEGF and Flk-1 in the treated endometriotic lesions were significantly lower than the levels in the control. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase mRNA was studied as constitutive housekeeping genes.
Fertility and Sterility  , DOI: ( /j.fertnstert )
Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine Terms and Conditions

4. Figure 3
Distribution of vWF, VEGF, Flk-1, and ED-1 positive cells in endometriotic lesions nontreated (A through D) and treated with parecoxib (E through H). In nontreated endometriotic lesions, abundant vWF-positive vessels were distributed throughout the stroma and concentrated around the glands (arrows); after the treatment, there was a noticeable disorganization of the endometriotic tissue and a decrease in the vWF immunoreactivity. Vascular endothelial growth factor and Flk-1 immunostaining were observed in the endothelial (arrows) and glandular epithelial cells (arrowheads) and decreased in the lesions after the treatment. ED-1 immunoreactivity showed that the higher number of positive macrophages in the stroma, present mainly around the glands in nontreated endometriosis (∗), was drastically reduced in the treated lesions. Bars: 50 μm.
Fertility and Sterility  , DOI: ( /j.fertnstert )
Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine Terms and Conditions

5. Figure 4
Immunohistochemical (A through D) and RT-PCR (E) analysis of COX-2 and PGE2 concentrations (F) in nontreated and treated with parecoxib eutopic endometrium and endometriotic lesions. The immunoreactivity of COX-2 was detected predominantly in the glandular epithelial cells in eutopic endometrium (A) and was more intense in endometriosis (B) (arrows). In treated eutopic endometrium (C), no difference in the immunoreactivity was observed, but in endometriotic lesions (D) there was a significant decrease in the intensity of the reaction (arrowheads). Bars: 50 μm. As expected, the levels of COX-2 mRNA transcripts in the treated endometriotic lesions also were significantly lower than the levels in the samples from the control (E). Lane 1, eutopic endometrium; lane 2, endometriosis; lane 3, treated eutopic endometrium; lane 4, treated endometriosis. The levels of PGE2 in control and treated eutopic endometrium were lower (F). In cases of nontreated endometriosis, there was a significant increase in PGE2 concentration (∗P<.01); in contrast, the endometriotic lesions treated with parecoxib showed a significant decrease in PGE2 concentration (#P<.01).
Fertility and Sterility  , DOI: ( /j.fertnstert )
Copyright © 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine Terms and Conditions