Takemura Y, Osuga Y, Harada M, Hirata T, Koga K, Morimoto C, Hirota Y, Yoshino O, Yano T, Taketani Y. Serum adiponectin concentrations are decreased in women with endometriosis.
Hum Reprod 2005;
20:3510-3. [PMID:
16055459 DOI:
10.1093/humrep/dei233]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Adiponectin is a pleiotropic cytokine originally discovered as an adipocyte-specific gene product. Serum adiponectin concentrations have been reported to be low in women with endometrial cancer, breast cancer and uterine leiomyoma, suggesting possible involvement of adiponectin in these estrogen-related diseases. We thus addressed the relevance of adiponectin to endometriosis, an estrogen-dependent disease, in the present study.
METHODS
Women with (n = 48) and without (n = 30) endometriosis undergoing laparoscopy were recruited in this study. Blood samples were collected, and serum adiponectin concentrations were measured using a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The relationship between laparoscopic findings and serum adiponectin concentrations was analysed.
RESULTS
The adiponectin concentrations in the serum of the women with endometriosis (median, 13.1 microg/ml; interquartile range, 10.2 - 16.7) were significantly lower than those of the women without endometriosis (15.9 microg/ml, 13.5 - 19.5; P = 0.008). A significant negative correlation was found between serum adiponectin concentrations and both endometriosis scores (R = - 0.307, P = 0.006) and adhesion scores (R = - 0.254, P = 0.026) of the revised American Society for Reproductive Medicine classification of endometriosis.
CONCLUSIONS
The present findings suggest that adiponectin is implicated in the pathophysiology of endometriosis.
Collapse