Serum leucine‐rich α2‐glycoprotein as a possible marker for inflammatory status in endometriosis

Mio Kobayashi, Orie Nakamura, Yoshikazu Kitahara, Naoki Inoue, Yumiko Tsukui, Yūko Hasegawa, Yuko Hasegawa, Hikaru Hiraishi, Atsushi Yabuki, Ayako Muraoka, Satoko Osuka, Akira Iwase
Reproductive medicine and biology · 2023 · vol. 22(1) , pp. e12536 · doi:10.1002/rmb2.12536 · PMID:37608861 · W4386038751
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This study found that serum leucine-rich α2-glycoprotein (LRG) levels were significantly elevated in women with endometriosis and decreased after surgery and during treatment, suggesting LRG may be a biomarker for the condition.

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Abstract

Abstract Purpose This study aimed to investigate whether serum leucine‐rich α2‐glycoprotein (LRG) is a useful diagnostic biomarker for endometriosis, including the evaluation of treatment efficacy and exploration of LRG production in endometriotic lesions. Methods Forty‐three women with endometriomas were compared to 22 women with benign ovarian cysts and 30 women who underwent assisted reproduction as controls. Changes in serum LRG levels were assessed before and after surgery, and during dienogest treatment. LRG expression in endometriotic tissue samples was evaluated using immunoblotting. Results Serum LRG levels in the endometrioma group (80.0 ± 36.3 μg/mL) were significantly higher than those in the benign ovarian cyst (65.1 ± 27.0 μg/mL, p = 0.0265) and control (57.8 ± 22.3 μg/mL, p = 0.0028) groups. Serum LRG levels after endometrioma surgery were significantly lower than preoperative levels ( p = 0.0484). Serum LRG levels consistently decreased during dienogest treatment. LRG expression levels were significantly higher in endometriotic tissues than in the normal endometrium. Conclusion Serum LRG, possibly derived from local and systemic origins, could be used as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosisendometrioma

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 (30)

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