Molecular Markes of Fibrosis of Endometriosis and Their Use in Predicting Disease Severity

Endometriosis is defined as the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterine cavity. It is a chronic benign estrogen-dependent disease affecting approximately 10% of women of reproductive age. It significantly affects the quality of life of affected women despite available treatment. The disease is most manifested by symptoms of pain (chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschesia) and sterility. In addition to adenomyosis (internal endometriosis), there are three main types of the disease - ovarian endometriosis (OE), peritoneal endometriosis (PE) and deep infiltrating endometriosis (DE). Although it is a benign disease, it shares certain characteristics with malignant diseases, such as the ability to relapse and grow infiltratively. Endometriosis tends to recur and develop adhesions and fibrotic scarring in the abdominal cavity, which means a higher risk of more severe symptoms and organ damage.

The origin of the disease remains unclear. Although it is believed that ectopic endometrial cells exhibit molecular abnormalities that promote their ability to adhere and growth outside the uterine cavity. Previous studies have identified various proteins that are up-regulated in endometrial-like tissue compared to normal endometrium, such as ACTA2, ALDH1B, FABP4 or MMP9. However, the diagnostic utility of these biomarkers is limited. In addition, there is no established biomarker that is specific to different types of ectopic endometrium or correlates with disease severity. Therefore, the identification and validation of these molecular abnormalities and proteins appears to be a key point in the effort to elucidate the pathway of disease development. This might open new possibilities for predicting disease progression so that monitoring a treatment of the disease might be tailored to the high-risk patients.

The aim of our study is to analyze molecular markers of fibrosis in eutopic and ectopic endometrium in women with endometriosis and compare them with endometrium of women without endometriosis. These markers will be correlated with the clinical state and course of disease before and after treatment. By this analysis we would like to find parameters that may correlate with the severity of the disease, risk of recurrence or postoperative complications.

Inclusion criteria

• women (18-45 years)
• signed informed consent with the study
• absence of hormonal treatment 3 months before the planned procedure

Inclusion criteria

for group A:

• laparoscopically and histologically confirmed endometriosis dg.

Inclusion criteria

for group B:

• patients without endometriosis
• patients who are undergoing an elective laparoscopic or hysteroscopic procedure in our department for another benign indication
• patients with excluded malignant disease

Exclusion criteria

• absence of informed consent
• patients who do not meet the inclusion criteria during surgery
• patient younger than 18 years of age or older than 45 years of age