Expression of soluble intracellular adhesion molecule in peritoneal fluid on patients of sterility with endometriosis

Objective To study the relationship between intracellular adhesion molecule-1(ICAM-1) and endometriosis. Methods The expression of sICAM-1 in peritoneal fluid(PF) and CA 125 in serum were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays(ELISA) on 40 patients with endometriosis and 40 from non-endometriosis normal control subjects during the same menstrual phase,and then analysed by F test and T test. Results The expression of sICAM-1 in PF from patients with endometriosis was significantly higher than those in controls,and the advanced group was higher than the early group.The same case was seen in CA 125 in serum.The sensitivity and specificity of sICAM-1 in detecting peritoneal endometriosis were 0.5 and 0.8,respectively;whereas those of CA 125 were 0.5 and 0.9,respectively.When both parameters were used concomitantly,the sensitivity and specificity were 0.7 and 0.8,respectively. Conclusion PF concentrations of sICAM-1 seem to be an effective indicator for the diagnosis of endometriosis.However,an integrated approach using both sICAM-1 and CA 125 may be helpful in specifically identifying woman with peritomeal endometriosis.