Altered expression of interleukin-18 in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis

Aydin Arici, Aydın Arıcı, Arici A, Ioannis Matalliotakis, Matalliotakis I, Anastasia Goumenou, Goumenou A, Anastasia G. Goumenou, Koumantakis G, Georgios Koumantakis, Simon Vassiliadis, S. Vassiliadis, Vassiliadis S, Mahutte NG, Neal G Mahutte, Neal Mahutte
Fertility and sterility · 2003 · vol. 80(4) , pp. 889–894 · doi:10.1016/s0015-0282(03)01122-1 · PMID:14556808 · W2128374761
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study investigated the expression of interleukin-18 in peritoneal fluid from women with endometriosis and found it to be altered.

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Abstract

ObjectivePeritoneal fluid (PF) inflammatory factors may participate in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. The aim of this study was to investigate PF interleukin (IL)-18 levels in women with and without endometriosis.DesignControlled clinical study.SettingWomen undergoing laparoscopy at a university hospital.Patient(s)Fifty women with previously untreated endometriosis, 8 women on GnRH agonists for endometriosis, and 18 control women with normal pelvic anatomy who were undergoing tubal ligation.Intervention(s)Peritoneal fluid IL-18 levels as measured by ELISA.Main outcome measure(s)Peritoneal fluid IL-18 levels.Result(s)Peritoneal fluid IL-18 levels were significantly higher in women with previously untreated endometriosis (mean +/- SEM, 91.1 +/- 6.5 pg/mL) than in control women (59.4 +/- 2.0 pg/mL). Interestingly, women with superficial (100.0 +/- 10.2 pg/mL) and deep peritoneal implants (94.0 +/- 10.8 pg/mL) had significantly higher PF IL-18 levels than did women with endometriomas (57.8 +/- 1.8 pg/mL). Similarly, women with stage I-II endometriosis (97.3 +/- 8.0 pg/mL), but not women with stage III-IV endometriosis (74.9 +/- 9.9 pg/mL), had significantly higher PF IL-18 levels than did control women. Peritoneal fluid IL-18 levels were significantly higher in the luteal phase than in the follicular phase but did not discriminate between women with pelvic pain or infertility.Conclusion(s)Peritoneal fluid IL-18 is elevated in women with peritoneal, minimal- to mild-stage endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Ascitic Fluid Endometriosis Interleukin-18 Adult Ascitic Fluid Endometriosis Endometriosis Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Female Follicular Phase Follicular Phase Humans Interleukin-18 Luteal Phase Luteal Phase Severity of Illness Index

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