Concentração sérica e peritoneal da interleucina-18 em mulheres inférteis com endometriose mínima ou leve

BACKGROUND:There is some evidence showing immunologic alterations in women with endometriosis and infertility.Among the immunologic alterations we highlight the role of interleukin-18 (IL-18), mainly in infertile patients with mild/minimal endometriosis without anatomical abnormalities.We propose to evaluate the concentration of IL-18 in serum and peritoneal fluid in women with endometriosis.METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional study with 34 infertile patients with mild/minimal endometriosis and 22 controls (fertile patients).Serum and peritoneal dosages of IL-18 were collected. RESULTS:The groups were not different in terms of age and BMI.There were no differences between dosages of IL-18 in peritoneal fluid and serum of infertile women with endometriosis and control group: 290.85 173.02 pg/ml x 374.21 330.15 pg/ml and 391.07 119.71 x 373.42 129.11, respectively (P>0.05).However, we found a positive association between serum and peritoneal IL-18 in patients with endometriosis (r=0.794,P=0.0001). CONCLUSION:The concentrations of IL-18 were not different between the groups.We can refute the hypothesis that IL-18 is associated to infertility in women with minimal or mild endometriosis.