THE ROLE OF NUCLEAR FACTOR NF-kB AND CYTOKINES IN THE PATHOGENESIS OF EXTERNAL GENITAL ENDOMETRIOSIS IN WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE

External genital endometriosis (EGE) is a common disorder in women of reproductive age, impacting many aspects of life, including infertility and pain. Along with studies of proliferation, apoptosis, and progesterone resistance in endometriotic heterotopias, attention is currently given to neoangiogenesis, oxidative stress, and inflammation, as well as the role of bioregulators in pathogenesis of this disease. A close link has been proven between EGE development and activation of immune system factors. However, the role of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and nuclear transcription factor (NF-kB) in the pathogenesis of EGE remains poorly understood. The aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of nuclear transcription factor (NF-kB) and cytokine levels in blood serum and peritoneal fluid of patients with EGE in their reproductive age. The study involved 52 patients with EGE and 20 women without EGE (control group). The EGE patients were divided in 2 groups depending on the stage of the disease. Group 1 consisted of 31 patients with stages I-II EGE, group 2 - 21 patients with stages III-IV. The levels of TNFα, IL-8 in blood serum and peritoneal fluid (PF) were determined by ELISA using reagents from Bender MedSystems (Austria); the levels of IL-13, 18, 23, with reagents from Cloud-Clone Corp (USA) according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Nuclear factor NF-kB was analyzed in peritoneal fluid using kits from Ebioscience (USA). Mathematical processing of the study results was performed using Statistica 10.0. The Mann–Whitney test was used to test the intergroup differences. Statistically significant values were set at p 0.05. The results demonstrated that EGE is characterized by alterations of the NF-κB signaling pathway and increased synthesis of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines at systemic and local levels, which requires further research into the correlation between their levels and disease severity. Dysregulation of immune system confirms the role of inflammatory factors in progression of endometriosis.