Cytokeratin-19 as a biomarker in urine and in serum for the diagnosis of endometriosis--a prospective study.
Endometriosis compromises the quality of life of countless women worldwide and is a leading cause of disability. Clinical symptoms of endometriosis can be very heterogeneous leading to a long interval between onset of symptoms and surgical diagnosis. A noninvasive, rapid diagnostic test is urgently needed. In this prospective study, we evaluated the usefulness of Cytokeratin-19 (CK19) as a biomarker for the diagnosis of endometriosis through urine and serum ELISA. 76 reproductive-aged women undergoing laparoscopy for benign conditions were included to this study and divided into two groups by the presence (n = 44) or absence (n = 32) of endometriosis. There was no statistically significant correlation between the concentration of CK19 in urine (p = 0.51) or in serum (p = 0.77) and the diagnosis of endometriosis. Assigning the samples to the proliferative or secretory cycle stage did not sufficiently lower the p values. In this study, the promising data reported in the recent literature about CK19 serving as a sufficient biomarker for endometriosis could not be verified when tested in a larger sample size. Further studies are warranted to explore the usefulness of CK19 in the diagnosis of endometriosis.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Medical University of Vienna , Vienna , Austria .
Lorenz
L
Kuessel
Agnes
A
Jaeger-Lansky
Petra
P
Pateisky
Nora
N
Rossberg
Anke
A
Schulz
Arndt A P
AA
Schmitz
Christine
C
Staudigl
René
R
Wenzl
D000328:Adult; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053539:Keratin-19 / Q000097:blood* / Q000652:urine*; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000097:blood / Q000652:urine; D010532:Peritoneal Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000652:urine
D015415:Biomarkers; D053539:Keratin-19