Endometrial osteopontin mRNA expression and plasma osteopontin levels are increased in patients with endometriosis.
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.
Cho
SiHyun
S
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Ahn
Young Sun
YS
Choi
Young Sik
YS
Seo
Seok Kyo
SK
Nam
Anna
A
Kim
Hye Yeon
HY
Kim
Jae-Hoon
JH
Park
Ki Hyun
KH
Cho
Dong Jae
DJ
Lee
Byung Seok
BS
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
D015415:Biomarkers; D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D053495:Osteopontin