title: Peritoneal fluid concentrations of β-chemokines in endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether the levels of MCP-1, RANTES and MCP-3 in the peritoneal fluid correlate with endometriosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with endometriosis were compared with controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved 95 women of reproductive age who were undergoing laparoscopy for evaluation of infertility or for pelvic pain. They were divided into an endometriosis group (n=54) and a control group (n=41).
  
  
  METHODS
  Peritoneal fluid samples were obtained and β-chemokines (MCP-1, RANTES and MCP-3) were measured using ELISA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mean and median values were used to present values. Due to the non-normality of chemokines, a log transformation was applied. Differences were examined using independent samples t-test. One-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD multiple comparison post hoc tests were applied. A significance level at 0.05 was set.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of MCP-1 are higher (p for log values=0.024) in the control group (mean=687.6, SD=467.7 pg/ml) than those of the endometriosis group (mean=570.4, SD=633.1 pg/ml). The same is true for the median values of MCP-1 (control median=568.5, endometriosis median=384.7 pg/ml). MCP-3 and RANTES do not differ significantly (MCP-3 p=0.787, RANTES p=0.153). The levels of MCP-1 in patients with stage II endometriosis are significantly lower in comparison with stage III (p=0.048) and stage IV (p=0.033) endometriosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A decrease in the concentrations of MCP-1 in stage I endometriosis has been observed, which is even larger in stage II, in contrast to stage III and stage IV endometriosis, which exhibit concentrations similar to the controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, University of Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Kalliopi-Maria
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Margari
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zafiropoulos
authors.forename: Eleftheria
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hatzidaki
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giannakopoulou
authors.forename: Aydin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arici
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matalliotakis
mesh_terms: D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D018932:Chemokine CCL2 / Q000032:analysis*; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000032:analysis*; D054410:Chemokine CCL7 / Q000032:analysis*; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D018932:Chemokine CCL2; D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D054410:Chemokine CCL7