The role of cytokeratin 19 levels in the determination of endometriosis stages

Abstract

Objective/Aim

Endometrisosis, one of the most common gynecological disease, is characterized by the presence of endometriotic tissue outside of uterine cavity. The development and the validation of a simple blood biomarker specific and sensitive for endometriosis may facilitate the rapid and the accurate diagnosis of the disease and thus early treatment. Cytokeratin expression changes during epithelial differentiation and this expression is important for the modulation and the control of cell cycle regulation, tumor cell motility and apoptosis. Cytokeratin 19 (CK-19) is expressed in most simple epithelial cells and their malignant counterparts. The aim of this study is to investigate serum CK-19 expression levels in patients with endometriosis and to determine the diagnostic role of CK-19 levels in differentiating various stage of endometriosis.

Methods

Ctytokeratin-19 expression and level were studied in 70 endometriosis patients and 50 volunteers by ELISA and RT-PCR. ROC analysis was performed by comparing all stages with each other and with the control group.

Results

The CK-19 levels were significantly higher in the endometriosis groups than that of the control group by ELISA and RT-PCR. A significant (p < .05) difference was observed in endometriosis patients according to the stages.

Conclusion

Based on our data, it suggests that Cytokeratin-19 may have a potential role in the development of endometriosis.

摘要

目的

子宫内膜异位症是最常见的妇科疾病之一, 其特征是子宫腔外存在子宫内膜异位组织。发现和验证一种对子宫内膜异位症兼具特异性和敏感性的血液生物标志物有助于快速准确诊断该疾病, 从而早期治疗。细胞角蛋白在上皮分化过程中表达, 这种表达对细胞周期的调节和控制、肿瘤细胞的迁移和凋亡具有重要意义。细胞角蛋白19（CK-19）在大多数单层上皮细胞及其恶变细胞中表达。本研究的目的是检测子宫内膜异位症患者血清CK-19的表达水平, 并确定CK-19水平在子宫内膜异位症不同分期的诊断作用。

方法

通过ELISA和RT-PCR检测70名子宫内膜异位症患者和50名志愿者的CK-19的表达和水平。通过将所有分期相互比较并与对照组比较进行ROC分析。

结果

通过ELISA和RT-PCR, 我们发现子宫内膜异位症组的CK-19水平显著高于对照组。子宫内膜异位症患者的分期具有显著差异性（p<0.05）。

结论

我们的数据表明CK-19可能在子宫内膜异位症的发展中具有潜在作用。

Keywords:

• Endometriosis
• biomarker
• noninvasive diagnosis
• cytokeratin 19
• RT-PCR

关键词:

• 子宫内膜异位症
• 生物标志物
• 无创诊断
• 细胞角蛋白19
• RT-PCR

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest in regard to this study.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Sivas Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Foundation (Sivas, Turkey) under project number 2019-ECZ-075.