Non-invasive prediction of endometriosis revisited; 3 biomarkers as Angiopoietin-2, Interleukin-1β and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor

Abstract

Introduction: Endometriosis affects up to 1 every 5 women at their reproductive age, with variable and complex symptomatology. Patients may be asymptomatic but may have pain episodes or subfertility. Its negative impact is on patients’ health and quality of life. Objective: it was to investigate the serum and peritoneal fluid (PF) concentrations of Angiopoietin- 2, Interleukin-1β, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor, aiming to evaluate their diagnostic performance in endometriosis. Methods: Serum and peritoneal fluid samples were taken from 112 women undergoing laparoscopy for infertility, pelvic pain or adnexal masses. 61 diagnosed with endometriosis and 51 controlled. Primary outcome was to estimate serum and PF concentrations of Angio-2, IL-1β and VEGF and secondarily correlate these concentrations to disease stages thus assuming their diagnostic potential. Results: Significant differences were found between patients and control as regards serum and PF concentration of all studied markers except serum IL-1β. Serum Angio-2 and PF VEGF showed a significantly higher level in more advanced stages of endometriosis. PF VEGF showed a positively significant correlation with the stage of the disease, spearman coefficient t = 0.442 p = 0.014. PF concentrations of Angio-2 and Serum VEGF did not show significant pattern changes with stage-related levels. Diagnostic potential of serum and PF concentrations of the 3 markers were assessed by the ROC curve. Angio-2 proved an excellent diagnostic ability for endometriosis. PF and serum VEGF proved an equal diagnostic performance, whereas, PF IL-1β was the least efficient. Based on the results, we suggested preliminary serum threshold values for these markers to be used as diagnostic or follow-up landmarks with relatively acceptable sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values. Conclusion: Non-invasive predictive biomarkers for endometriosis were Serum Angio-2, IL-1β, and VEGF independently or in combination with the estimated threshold values. Serum Angio-2 merit is considered as a novel marker for endometriosis due to its diagnostic power.