Objective: To determine whether serum interleukin (IL)-8 concentration can be measured in patients with ovarian endometrioma and whether this measurement is a useful tool in diagnosing this disease.
Design: A controlled clinical study and an in vitro study.
Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tottori University, Japan.
Patient(s): Seventy patients with ovarian endometrioma and 21 patients with benign ovarian cyst.
Intervention(s): Laparoscopic surgery or laparotomy for ovarian endometriomas or benign ovarian cyst was performed. Preoperative blood samples were obtained. Endometriotic stromal cells obtained from nine patients with endometrioma were cultured.
Main outcome measure(s): Interleukin-8 concentration in the serum or supernatant of the cell culture was measured with use of ELISA.
Result(s): The serum concentration of IL-8 in patients with endometrioma was significantly higher than in patients with benign ovarian cyst. The serum IL-8 threshold (25 pg/mL) had a higher sensitivity (71.4%) for diagnosing ovarian endometrioma than did serum CA-125 level. The increased rates of IL-8 concentration in the culture supernatants after adding tumor necrosis factor alpha were significantly higher in patients whose serum IL-8 levels were >or=25 pg/mL than in those with levels <25 pg/mL.
Conclusion(s): Measuring of serum IL-8 concentration may be a valuable tool in diagnosing endometriosis.