Prognostic significance of CD68+ macrophages in autoimmune inflammation in experimental study

Introduction. Autoimmune oophoritis is one of the causes of premature ovarian insufficiency in 3–40% of cases. Representative diagnosis is possible only through histological examination of ovarian biopsy material, which complicates the identification of early stages of the pathological process when changes may be reversible. Objective: to study the number and localization of antigen-presenting cells (macrophages) expressing CD68 and determine their role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune inflammation during the formation of experimental autoimmune oophoritis and experimental bacterial chronic inflammation of uterine appendages. Material and methods. The study was conducted on 45 mature outbred female rats divided into 3 groups: main group with autoimmune oophoritis model (n=25), comparison group with bacterial chronic inflammation of uterine appendages model (n=10), and control group (n=10). Histological examination of ovaries, immunohistochemical staining with CD68 antibodies, and determination of anti-ovarian antibodies in blood serum were performed. Results. In autoimmune oophoritis, high CD68 expression was revealed on the surface of M1 phenotype tissue macrophages. Maximum numerical density of CD68+ macrophages was reached by day 15 of the experiment (714.62 cells/mm2), while in bacterial inflammation by day 60 (492.84 cells/mm2). CD68+ macrophages migrate from medulla to cortex, surrounding growing follicles. By day 30, a decrease in the number of growing follicles and an increase in atretic bodies were noted with elevated anti-ovarian antibody concentrations to 10.3–14.1 ng/ml. Conclusion. Macrophages with increased CD68+ expression may serve as promising early markers of premature ovarian insufficiency of autoimmune etiology, which is of interest for clinical practice