Levels of antibodies to transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein in women with and without endometriosis.
OBJECTIVE
To establish an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for determining the levels of antibodies to transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein in the serum of women with and without endometriosis.


METHODS
Serum samples were obtained from 105 normal women, who were randomly selected for a population-based epidemiologic study, and 123 patients with active endometriosis. An ELISA using transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein as antigens was established.


RESULTS
The levels of antibodies to transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein in the serum of patients with endometriosis were approximately 21 times higher than those in the serum of control subjects without endometriosis. Only 2% of control subjects had false positive levels of these antibodies, and 5% of patients with endometriosis had false negative levels of these antibodies (specificity, 98.1 and 98.1, respectively, for anti-transferrin and anti-alpha 2-HS glycoprotein; sensitivity, 95 and 96.7, respectively, for anti-transferrin and anti-alpha 2-HS glycoprotein).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with endometriosis have significantly higher levels of antibodies to transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein than control subjects. Testing women for antibodies to transferrin and alpha 2-HS glycoprotein will provide a specific noninvasive diagnosis of endometriosis.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Biometry, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA.
S P
SP
Mathur
V L
VL
Holt
J H
JH
Lee
H
H
Jiang
P F
PF
Rust
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014168:Transferrin / Q000276:immunology*; D060749:alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein
C556354:AHSG protein, human; D000906:Antibodies; D001798:Blood Proteins; D014168:Transferrin; D060749:alpha-2-HS-Glycoprotein