Comparison of the profile of serum autoantibodies in women with different forms of endometriosis

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory system disease with multifactorial etiopathogenesis, including dysregulation of immune surveillance. It shares similarities with autoimmune diseases, however, the role of autoantibodies in endometriosis is not well understood.
Objective: To study the profile of serum autoantibodies in women with endometrioid ovarian cysts and deep infiltrative endometriosis.

Materials and methods: Using ELISA, antibodies to tropomyosin 3 (TPM), tropomodulin 3 (TMOD), α-enolase (ENO), estradiol (E), progesterone (PG), human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), antiphospholipid (aPL) and antinuclear (ANA) antibodies were determined in patients with endometriomas (group 1, n=53), deep infiltrative endometriosis (group 2, n=21) and in women without endometriosis (group 3, n=27).

Results: In patients with endometriosis, antibodies to hormones, endometrial antigens and ENO were detected more often compared to aPL and ANA, and more often than in women without endometriosis. The three groups differed in the detection rate of antibodies to E, hCG, ENO and TPM. In group 1, there was an increase in the level of IgM antibodies to PG, E, hCG and TPM and IgG antibodies to E, hCG, ENO and TMOD; whereas in group 2, only the level of IgM antibodies to TPM and hCG was increased. The levels of IgG antibodies to E and TMOD in group 1 were higher than in group 2.

Conclusion: Antibodies to hormones, endometrial antigens and α-enolase are more often detected in patients with endometriosis than in healthy women. A wider spectrum of antibodies is observed in endometriomas compared with deep endometriosis. Autoantibodies may be involved in the pathophysiology of endometriosis and have diagnostic value.

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