Dual agonist–antagonist effect of ulipristal acetate in human endometrium and myometrium

The aim of this study was to assess the molecular effect of ulipristal acetate (UPA) on gene expression in myometrium and endometrium of patients with symptomatic fibroids. Tissues isolated from four women treated preoperatively with UPA (5 mg) were compared to those from untreated controls using NanoString platform to assess the expression of 75 candidate genes modulated by UPA and ovarian steroids. Deregulated genes were then validated by real-time PCR. In myometrium, UPA exerted an antagonistic effect similar to that observed in fibroids. In UPA-treated endometrium, six genes were identified as highly and significantly upregulated, including matricellular genes <i>CCN1</i> (54-fold, <i>P</i> = 0.0018) and <i>CCN2</i> (11-fold, <i>P</i> = 0.00044), Krüppel-like factor 4 (&gt;3-fold, <i>P</i> = 0.0036), and mast cell markers including tryptases <i>TPSAB1/TPSB2</i> (31-fold, <i>P</i> = 0.023) and carboxypeptidase A (<i>CPA3</i>, 17-fold, <i>P</i> = 0.05). In endometrium, UPA induced the expression of genes involved in fibrogenesis and mast cell function—some of them being widely involved in hepatic injury, which could explain the marked fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration observed in explanted livers from patients under UPA treatment.