Increased Pregnancy‐Associated Plasma Protein‐A (PAPP‐A) Concentrations in Peritoneal Fluid of Women with Endometriosis

Aydin Arici, Aydın Arıcı, Ioannis Matalliotakis, Anastasia Goumenou, Anastasia G. Goumenou, Georgios Koumantakis, Yvoni Fragouli, Neal G Mahutte, Neal Mahutte
American journal of reproductive immunology (New York, N.Y. : 1989) · 2003 · vol. 49(2) , pp. 70–74 · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0897.2003.01164.x · PMID:12765344 · W1989448984
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Peritoneal fluid PAPP-A levels are significantly increased in women with endometriosis, correlating with disease extent and varying across the menstrual cycle.

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Abstract

PROBLEM: Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A) belongs to a group of glycoproteins isolated from extracts of human placenta. Healthy ovarian and uterine tissues are also known to express PAPP-A. We hypothesized that PAPP-A levels might also be elevated in the peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with endometriosis, and examined variations in PF PAPP-A during the menstrual cycle and with the severity of the disease. METHOD OF STUDY: PF PAPP-A were measured in 60 women with endometriosis and 38 women without endometriosis using a high-sensitivity immunofluorometric assay. RESULTS: We found that the mean level of PAPP-A was higher in PF from patients with endometriosis than controls (p = 0.003). Furthermore, significant correlation was found between the stages of endometriosis and the levels of PAPP-A in these patients (r = 0.39, p = 0.009). The concentrations of PAPP-A in PF were significantly higher in the secretory phase than the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle in both women with and without endometriosis (p = 0.009 and P = 0.002, respectively). Finally, among the controls, women undergoing tubal ligation had significantly lower mean PF levels of PAPP-A than women with infertility or pelvic pain (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that PF levels of PAPP-A vary during the menstrual cycle, and are highest in the secretory phase. We also find that PF PAPP-A levels are significantly increased in women with endometriosis, and that the degree of elevation corresponds to the extent of disease.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Ascitic Fluid Endometriosis Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A Adult Ascitic Fluid Endometriosis Female Fluorescent Antibody Technique Humans Menstrual Cycle Menstrual Cycle Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A

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