Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on November 3, 2005
Human Reproduction 2006 21(3):788-791; doi:10.1093/humrep/dei376
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Peritoneal fluid leptin is associated with chronic pelvic pain but not infertility in endometriosis patients*
1 Center for Advanced Research in Human Reproduction, Infertility, and Sexual Function, 2 Minimally Invasive Surgery Center, 3 Department of Obstetrics–Gynecology, 4 Urological Institute and 5 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
6 To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, A81 Cleveland, OH 44195, USA. E-mail: falcont{at}ccf.org
BACKGROUND: Leptin influences the proinflammatory immune responses and has angiogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. The objective of this study was to evaluate the peritoneal fluid levels of leptin in patients with endometriosis and idiopathic infertility and compare them with a control group of tubal ligation/reanastomosis patients. METHODS: In this observational, prospective controlled study, peritoneal fluid from 108 women was obtained while they underwent laparoscopy for pelvic pain, infertility, tubal ligation or sterilization reversal. We measured the concentration of leptin in the peritoneal fluid and compared the levels among women who were divided into groups according to their post-surgical diagnosis. Sixty patients were diagnosed with endometriosis, 10 with idiopathic infertility and 38 had undergone tubal ligation or reanastomosis (control group). RESULTS: Peritoneal fluid leptin was significantly higher in endometriosis 14.62 ± 9.79 (mean ± SD) ng/ml compared to idiopathic infertility [0.92 ± 1.57 ng/ml (P = 0.0007)] and to controls [0.78 ± 1.94 ng/ml (P < 0.0001)]. Leptin levels were positively correlated with the stage of endometriosis (r = 0.45; P = 0.03), and with pelvic pain in endometriosis patients (r = 0.49; P = 0.001). Peritoneal fluid leptin levels in patients with idiopathic infertility were comparable to controls. CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of leptin were observed in peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis compared to those without the disease. These data suggest that the proinflammatory and neoangiogenic action of leptin may contribute to the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Moreover, leptin may play a role in endometriosis-associated pain.
Key words: chronic pelvic pain/endometriosis/idiopathic infertility/leptin
* Presented in part in the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Oct 12–17, 2002, Seattle, WA, USA.
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