INFLAMMATORY MEDIATORS AS BIOMARKERS FOR ENDOMETRIOSIS

Fouad NT*, ElShennawy D, Soliman MY, Hemeda H, Khattab D, Shafik AS

ABSTRACT

The diagnosis of endometriosis, nowadays depends mainly on surgical laparoscopy, with all its known potential risks, due to the lack of a reliable diagnostic noninvasive biomarker. Serum and peritoneal TNF, IL-6, IL-8, hs-CRP, and plasma ccf nDNA levels were assessed in 120 women scheduled for diagnostic laparoscopy to investigate their roles as reliable non invasive biomarkers in the diagnosis and staging of endometriosis in Egyptian patients. The patients were divided into group I )endometriosis group = 80 patients), which is further subdivided into: group IA (stage I endometriosis =38 patients) and Group IB (stage II endometriosis = 42 patients), and Group II (non-endometriosis group= 40). Comparative statistics revealed significant difference between group I and group II regarding serum TNF-α, serum hs-CRP, serum and peritoneal IL-6 and IL-8, and plasma ccf DNA levels. Conclusion: Serum TNF-α, serum IL-6, serum IL-8, and plasma ccf DNA are possible highly sensitive reliable non-invasive biomarkers for screening of endometriosis and their routine use would indeed decrease the number of unnecessary laparoscopies. Moreover, serum IL-6 and IL-8 can be used to discriminate between various stages of endometriosis.

Keywords: Endometriosis, TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, ccfDNA.