title: Are there antiendometrial antibodies in sera of women with endometriosis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify and characterize the antiendometrial tissue specific antibody response in endometriosis patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective.
  
  
  METHODS
  Industrial research laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty untreated women with laparoscopically diagnosed endometriosis, 10 healthy women without symptoms of endometriosis, 12 women in whom laparoscopy failed to yield evidence of endometriosis, 10 healthy men, and 4 individuals with elevated titers of serum antinuclear antibodies.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Several immunological methods have been employed including immunofluorescence, hemagglutination, enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays, and protein blotting. Contrary to reports in the literature, results of these analyses have failed to demonstrate the presence of detectable levels of antiendometrial immunoreactivity in sera from patients with endometriosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The association of endometrial autoimmunity with endometriosis remains to be established.
authors.affiliation: Syva Company, Palo Alto, California 94304.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Switchenko
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Kauffman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Becker
mesh_terms: D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000276:immunology*; D004717:Endometrium / Q000276:immunology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies