title: Endometrial osteopontin mRNA expression and plasma osteopontin levels are increased in patients with endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to evaluate osteopontin (OPN) mRNA expression in eutopic endometrium and plasma OPN levels in patients with endometriosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 79 patients with histologically confirmed endometriosis and 43 patients without endometriosis participated in this study. OPN mRNA expression in endometrial tissues was measured by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and plasma concentrations of OPN were quantified using a specific commercial sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Osteopontin mRNA expression in endometrial tissue was significantly higher in women with endometriosis than in controls (P = 0.010). The mean plasma levels of OPN (mean +/- S.E.M.) in patients with endometriosis and controls were 407.31 +/- 37.80 ng/mL and 165.84 +/- 19.29 ng/mL, respectively (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis for plasma OPN revealed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.894, with a sensitivity of 93.0%, specificity of 72.4%, positive likelihood ratio of 3.37, and negative likelihood ratio of 0.1 using a cut-off value of 167.68 ng/mL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Osteopontin may be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis and plasma OPN may be a useful non-invasive marker for the diagnosis of endometriosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: SiHyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Young Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Young Sik
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Seok Kyo
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.forename: Hye Yeon
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Hoon
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ki Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Dong Jae
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Byung Seok
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004717:Endometrium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D053495:Osteopontin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053495:Osteopontin