Serum and Peritoneal Fluid Cytokine Profiles in Infertile Women with Endometriosis

Background: Endometriotic lesions are assumed to be the results of immune responses to retrograded endometrial cells and can cause infertility. Many immune cells including T helper subsets incorporate in immune responses. To achieve a good medical treatment, the main responsive cells and their cytokines should be determined. To unveil the pattern of T cell subsets and cytokines in endometriosis, cytokines related to T helper subsets (Th1/Th2/Th17/Treg) within both peripheral blood (PB) and peritoneal fluid (PF) samples from two groups of women were investigated and compared. Methods: PB and PF samples were collected from 30 infertile endometriosis and 30 non-endometriosis fertile women during laparoscopy. Concentration of cytokines, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-[alpha]), Interferon gamma (IFN-[gamma]), Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-[beta]1), interleukin 4 (IL-4), IL-10, IL-17 and IL-23 were evaluated using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Results: Results indicated that the concentration of IFN-[gamma] within serum was significantly reduced in endometriosis group (P=0.001). Regarding PF cytokines, TGF-[beta]1 was increased in endometriosis group (P=0.030). Furthermore, the ratios of IFN[gamma]/TGF-[beta]1 and IL-17/IL-23 were significantly different between endometriosis and non-endometriosis women in serum samples (P