title: Plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor in women with pelvic pain: a potential biomarker for endometriosis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test whether plasma BDNF levels are useful to predict the presence of endometriosis in women with pelvic pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cross-sectional study including 67 consecutive women aged 24-49 years, scheduled for laparoscopy due to chronic pelvic pain. Preoperative plasma samples were assayed for BDNF using a commercial enzyme immunoassay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with ovarian endometrioma had higher preoperative plasma BDNF (1063 ± 157 pg/ml) compared with women with other benign ovarian tumors (537 ± 131 pg/ml, F = 2.53; p = 0.02). However, plasma BDNF levels were not helpful to indicate the presence of peritoneal or deep infiltrating endometriosis. Plasma BDNF levels were positively correlated with the severity of pelvic pain (r = 0.489; p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma BDNF might be a biomarker of ovarian endometrioma but not a useful diagnostic marker to detect other forms of endometriosis in women with painful symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Erica L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Márcia C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Laura M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Maia
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.|Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Antonio L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D019540:Area Under Curve; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008875:Middle Aged; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; C579455:BDNF protein, human
keywords: BDNF; benign ovarian tumor; biomarker; endometrioma; endometriosis; inflammation; laparoscopy; nerve fiber; pelvic pain