Leptin Concentrations in Serum and Peritoneal Fluid from Patients with Endometriosis

Objective: To investigate the leptin levels in serum and peritoneal fluid(PF) from patients with endometriosis and its role on pathogenesis of endometriosis.Methods: The leptin levels of serum and PF from 35 patients with endometriosis(test group) and 15 patients without endometriosis(control group) were detected by a method of Radio-LinkedImmunoassay(RIA).Results: Basal metabolism index(BMI)of the two groups had no significant difference(P0.05).The leptin levels in serum from test group had no significant difference compared with those from the control group(2.992±2.169μg/L,1.977±1.549μg/L respectively)(P0.05),but the leptin levels in PF were significantly higher in test group than those in control group(4.502±2.935μg/L,1.633±0.979μg/L respectively)(P0.01).The leptin levels in PF of the patients with mild endometriosis were significantly higher than those in severe patients(5.546±3.106μg/L,3.806±2.666μg/L respectively)(P0.05).There was negative correlation between the leptin levels in PF and R-AFS scores in test group(r=-0.419,P0.01).Conclusions: The results suggest that leptin levels increase in PF from patients with endometriosis,but have an inverse correlation with the extent of endometriosis.These changes of leptin levels in PF may play a role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis,but changes of leptin levels in serum had no significant relationship with the pathogenesis of endometriosis.