title: Soluble c-Met expression in the peritoneal fluid and serum of patients with different stages of endometriosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), also known as scatter factor, and its receptor c-Met have been shown to be implicated in endometriosis. HGF acts as a mitogen, motogen, and morphogen on endometrial epithelial cells. The expression of c-Met on human endometrial cells has been reported. Many proteins are proteolytically released from the surface by a process known as ectodomain shedding. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of soluble c-Met (s-cMet) in the peritoneal fluid (PF) and serum samples of patients with different stages of endometriosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  39 PF and serum samples from normal healthy and 130 samples from different stages of patients with endometriosis (33 cases of stage I, 38 stage II, 30 stage III and 29 stage IV) were included in this study. Total protein concentration (TPC) and the level of s-cMet in the PF and serum were determined by Bio-Rad protein assay based on the Bradford dye procedure and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant change in the TPC was seen in the serum and PF of patients with endometriosis when compared with normal controls. Results obtained demonstrated that all PF and serum samples presented s-cMet expression, whereas, starting from stages I to IV endometriosis, a significant increase of s-cMet expression was observed as compared to controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study show that a high expression of s-cMet is correlated with advanced stages of endometriosis. It is also concluded that the detection of serum and PF s-cMet may be useful in classifying endometriosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran.
authors.forename: Nilofar
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: KhoshdelRad
authors.forename: Zivar
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mashayekhi
authors.forename: Oranus
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abbasi
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mirzajani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D019859:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met