Evaluation of IL-3, IL-5, and IL-6 concentration in the follicular fluid of women with endometriosis: A cross-sectional study

Ghodsi M, Mohammad Ghodsi, Vida Hojati, Armin Attaranzadeh, Attaranzadeh A, Bita Saifi, Saifi B
International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2022 · vol. 20(3) , pp. 213–220 · doi:10.18502/ijrm.v20i3.10713 · PMID:35571503 · PMC9099369 · W4224307751
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This study found significantly altered concentrations of IL-3 and IL-6 in the follicular fluid of women with endometriosis compared to controls.

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This cross-sectional study measured IL-3, IL-5, and IL-6 concentrations in follicular fluid from 34 women with laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis undergoing IVF and compared them with 34 fertile control women undergoing IVF for male infertility, using cytokine-specific ELISA assays. The key findings were that IL-3 was significantly lower in the endometriosis group than controls, IL-6 was significantly higher in the endometriosis group, and IL-5 was lower but not significantly different; ROC analyses showed only low diagnostic accuracy for IL-3 and IL-6, with AUC values around 0.64 and no cytokine achieving acceptable sensitivity and specificity cutoffs. The study’s limitations include its modest sample size and the fact that it reports low discrimination performance rather than establishing diagnostic utility. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it evaluates follicular-fluid IL-3, IL-5, and IL-6 differences and their ROC-based diagnostic value in women with endometriosis undergoing IVF.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is associated with abnormal immunologic responses and combined inflammatory and anti-inflammatory conditions. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate follicular fluid (FF) concentration of interleukin (IL)-3, IL-5, and IL-6 in women with and without endometriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectionalstudy 68 women who were referred to the in vitro fertilization center of Imam Reza hospital in Mashhad during 2018 were selected randomly. Leaves of cytokines in the FF samples were evaluated in the endometriosis and the control group (n = 34/each). The diagnostic accuracy of cytokines and clinical characteristics were evaluated. RESULTS: IL-3 and IL-6 were significantly changed in the FF of the women with endometriosis compared with the control group (p = 0.04, and p < 0.01, respectively), and the mean concentration of IL-5 in the endometriosis group was lower than in the control group (p = 0.5), but this was not significant. There were significant differences in the menstrual cycle, dyspareunia, and dysmenorrhea between the groups (p < 0.01, p = 0.04, and p = 0.02, respectively). The diagnostic accuracy of IL-3 and IL-6 in the FF was low, with the area under the curve of 0.614 and 0.645, respectively. CONCLUSION: Although none of the cytokines had a predictive value for endometriosis, the decreased levels of IL-3 and increased levels of IL-6 in the FF samples of women with endometriosis, and risk factors, including irregular menstrual cycle, dyspareunia, and dysmenorrhea, could be associated with the pathogenesis of this painful disease.
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In summary, the results demonstrated a significant elevation in the IL-6 concentration and a remarkable reduction in the IL-3 levels in the FF samples of women with endometriosis compared to the control group, suggesting the involvement of these cytokines in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. However, the FF concentration of these cytokines offers little value in diagnosing endometriosis. Therefore, further investigations in larger sample sizes are necessary to elucidate and confirm the role of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines in the etiology of endometriosis and to introduce an appropriate biomarker for diagnosis of endometriosis in the early stages.

Coi Statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

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Condition tags

endometriosisdysmenorrheadyspareunia

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