Increased levels of IL-8,TNF-α in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis and their clinical significance

Objective To investigate the levels of IL-8,TNF-α in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis(EM)and their clinical significance.Methods The levels of IL-8,TNF-α in the peritoneal fluid of 40 patients with EM and 38 women without EM(as controls) were measured with ELISA.Results Higher levels of IL-8 and TNF-α were observed in women with EM(75.81±65.92,51.46±24.77)pg/ml than those without EM(30.58±19.94,26.82±17.34)pg/ml,and there was significant difference(P0.05).In women with stage Ⅰ-Ⅱ of EM,the levels of IL-8 and TNF-α were(117.41±87.92)pg/ml and(70.35±29.14)pg/ml respectively,and there was significant difference(P0.05).No significant difference was found in the levels of IL-8,TNF-α in the peritoneal fluid in the proliferative and secretary phase between EM group and control group(P0.05).There was no significant correlation between the level of IL-8 and that of TNF-α in EM group.Conclusion The increase of levels of IL-8,TNF-α in peritoneal fluid of EM patients and their concentration suggests that the cytokines from macrophages may contribute to the development of EM.