Peritoneal fluid biomarkers in patients with endometriosis: a cross-sectional study

Konstantinos Nirgianakis, Brett McKinnon, Lijuan Ma, Sara Imboden, Nick A. Bersinger, Nick Bersinger, Michael D Mueller
Hormone molecular biology and clinical investigation · 2020 · vol. 42(2) , pp. 113–122 · doi:10.1515/hmbci-2019-0064 · PMID:32926606 · W3086279439
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 10 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Glycodelin and Midkine concentrations were higher in endometriosis patients compared to controls, while IL-8, RANTES, OPG, MCP-1, and Defensin showed cycle-phase-dependent increases.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Elevated concentrations of numerous molecules have been reported in the peritoneal cavity of women with endometriosis. Until now, no factor proved sufficiently specific to endometriosis. We aimed to investigate several biomarkers in endometriosis and report their association with the menstrual cycle in a large sample size study. METHODS: Patients of reproductive age undergoing laparoscopic procedures for benign pathology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Bern between 2007 and 2018 were included. Exclusion criteria were the use of hormonal treatment in the three months prior to surgery, patients suffering from other inflammatory diseases, pregnancy, malignancy and surgery performed in an emergency. The concentrations of 13 different biomarkers in the peritoneal fluid (PF) were compared between patients with and without endometriosis both in the proliferative and the secretory cycle phase. RESULTS: Out of 1,256 patients in the database, 521 met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Glycodelin (PP14) and Midkine concentrations were significantly higher in patients with endometriosis compared to controls irrespective of the cycle phase in which the PF was collected. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and osteoprotegerin (OPG) concentrations were higher in patients with endometriosis only in the proliferative cycle phase. Monocyte chemoattractant protein 1, CCL2 (MCP-1) and Defensin concentrations were higher in patients with endometriosis only in the secretory cycle phase. CONCLUSIONS: Certain pathophysiological processes may take place only in the one cycle phase leading to a temporary increase of specific PF biomarkers. Correlation with clinical outcomes is mandatory to establish their potential as prognostic or therapeutic tools in endometriosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Ascitic Fluid Biomarkers Endometriosis Endometriosis Adult Ascitic Fluid Cross-Sectional Studies Cytokines Cytokines Disease Susceptibility Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Inflammation Mediators Inflammation Mediators Menstrual Cycle Risk Factors Severity of Illness Index

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