Concentration of osteoprotegerin (OPG) in peritoneal fluid is increased in women with endometriosis

Human Reproduction · 2004 · vol. 19(10) , pp. 2188–2191 · doi:10.1093/humrep/deh412 · PMID:15242994 · W2158358329
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 14 in-corpus citations
AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07

Osteoprotegerin (OPG) concentrations were significantly higher in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis, especially in advanced stages, suggesting involvement in the pathophysiology of the disease.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Failure of apoptosis of refluxed endometrial cells within the peritoneal cavity is a possible etiologic factor for development of endometriosis. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a survival factor that exerts its effect by binding to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), thus preventing TRAIL from binding to the apoptosis receptors DR4 and DR5. In the present study, we addressed the possibility that the TRAIL/OPG system is involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. METHODS: Concentrations of OPG and TRAIL in the peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with or without endometriosis were measured using specific enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay. The expression of DR4 and DR5 in the endometriotic tissue was examined by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: OPG concentrations in PF of women with endometriosis were significantly higher than those of women without endometriosis (P=0.006). With respect to the stages of the disease, the concentrations of OPG in women with stage III/IV endometriosis were significantly higher than in those without endometriosis and those with stage I/II endometriosis. On the other hand, the ratios of TRAIL/OPG concentrations were significantly lower in stage III/IV endometriosis compared to those in non-endometriosis and stage I/II endometriosis. DR5 mRNA expression was clearly detected in all the endometriotic tissues studied. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the TRAIL/OPG system is involved in the pathophysiology of endometriosis, possibly affecting the apoptosis of endometriotic cells.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Ascitic Fluid Endometriosis Glycoproteins Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear Adult Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins Ascitic Fluid Case-Control Studies Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Glycoproteins Humans Infertility, Female Infertility, Female Membrane Glycoproteins Membrane Glycoproteins Osmolar Concentration Osteoprotegerin Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (23)

Cited by (15)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-13T06:11:40.775766+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:12:32.173627+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK