title: Soluble CD44 concentration in the serum and peritoneal fluid samples of patients with different stages of endometriosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endometriosis is a gynecological disease defined by the histological presence of endometrial glands and stroma outside the uterine cavity, most commonly implanted over visceral and peritoneal surface within the female pelvis. CD44 is a membrane protein expressed by human endometrial cells, and it has been shown to promote the adhesion of endometrial cells. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of soluble CD44 (sCD44) in the serum and peritoneal fluid (PF) 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 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 of patients with endometriosis when compared to normal controls. Results obtained demonstrated that all serum and peritoneal fluid samples, presented sCD44 expression, whereas, starting from stages I to IV endometriosis, a significant increase of sCD44 expression was observed as compared to control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this study show that a high expression of sCD44 is correlated with advanced stages of endometriosis. It is also concluded that the detection of serum and/or peritoneal fluid sCD44 may be useful in classifying endometriosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Guilan, 1914, Rasht, Iran, mashayekhi@guilan.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Farhad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mashayekhi
authors.forename: Hadis
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aryaee
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mirzajani
authors.forename: Ashraf Ale
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Yasin
authors.forename: Abdolsatar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fathi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D004717:Endometrium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010537:Peritoneum / Q000473:pathology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: C497483:CD44 protein, human; D018960:Hyaluronan Receptors