OXIDATIVE STRESS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS

ISEE-482 Introduction: Little is known about the etiology of endometriosis; however reactive oxygen species may increase growth and adhesion of endometrial cells in the peritoneal cavity leading to endometriosis and infertility. Within a study investigating persistent organic compounds and endometriosis, the authors evaluated the association between oxidative stress and endometriosis. Methods: Women aged 18-40 who were undergoing laparoscopy were contacted to participate in the study (n=100); 84 agreed to be interviewed and 78 provided blood specimens. Thirty-one women had visually confirmed endometriosis at laparoscopy and 53 did not, of whom 25 had surgery for sterilization and 28 for reasons related to difficulty becoming or staying pregnant. Markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant status were measured in serum for 61 women. Multiple imputation of missing data was performed using the expectation maximization [EM] algorithm. Twenty datasets were imputed and combined using logistic regression taking into consideration the with-in and between data set variance. Sensitivity analysis for power and selection bias was done. Results: There was no association detected between endometriosis and markers of oxidative stress processes as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) (beta=−0.097; p=0.79), 8-isoprostane (beta=−0.001; p=0.30), and paraxonase activity (beta=−0.002; p=0.45). Antioxidant status as measured by beta-carotene (beta=3.211; p=0.33), vitamin A (beta=0.041; p=0.55), vitamin E (beta=0.088; p=0.24), and lycopene (beta=−2.762; p=0.29) was not significantly associated with endometriosis. Current smoking (odds ratio [OR] 5.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.71-18.20) and BMI (OR 0.88; 95% CI 0.79-0.98) were significant predictors of endometriosis. Discussion: Based upon oxidative stress markers measured in serum, there does not appear to be an association between oxidative stress and endometriosis. A discussion of the results in relation to the methodology and current literature is provided.