Abstract

PIP: 43 samples of endometrium from IUD users with excessive uterine bleeding (MBL 80 ml), normal menstrual blood loss (MBL 80 ml), and non-IUD users with normal menstrual blood loss (80 ml) have been studied. Concentration of 6-keto-PGF1alpha, a metabolite of prostacyclin (PGI2), was determined by radioimmunoassay. It was found that the concentration of 6-keto-PGF1alpha of patients with IUD-induced excessive uterine bleeding was significantly higher than that of IUD users with MBL 80 ml (p 0.05) and of non-IUD users (p,0.01). But the difference between IUD users with normal menstruation and the controls was of no statistical significance (p0.05). The results also indicated a positive correlation between the amount of MBL and 6-keto-PGF1alpha concentration in the endometria of IUD users (r=0.439; p0.05). The measurements of both tissue plasminogen activation (t-PA_ and 6-keto-PGF1alpha concentrations from samples of 28 cases showed a weak positive correlation between t-PA and 6-keto-PGF1alpha (r=0.459; p0.05). Further study is necessary to evaluate the significance of this result. These studies prove that the increased 6-keto-PGF1alpha is an important factor in the existence of excessive uterine bleeding in IUD users.