Interleukin 1β, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α in endometriotic tissue and in endometrium

Abstract Objective: To compare the levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα in endometriotic tissue and in endometrium from women with endometriosis and healthy controls. Design: Open. Setting: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at a university hospital. Patient(s): Twenty-six women with endometriosis and 22 controls operated on for clinical indications. Intervention(s): ELISA in homogenized tissue samples collected during surgery. Main Outcome Measure(s): Levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα in tissue homogenates. Result(s): The three types of tissue differed significantly with respect to all three cytokines. Endometriotic tissue had significantly higher concentrations of IL-1β than endometrium from both patients with endometriosis and healthy controls. Both endometriotic tissue and endometrium from patients had significantly higher concentrations of IL-6, and endometriotic tissue had significantly lower concentration of TNFα than did endometrium from controls. IL-1β showed a cycle phase dependence that was significant in endometrium from patients, being higher in the secretory than in the follicular phase. IL-1β was significantly higher in endometrioma than in lesions of other localizations. Concentrations of IL-1β and IL-6 were positively correlated in endometriotic tissue and in endometrium from controls. No other significant correlations were found. Conclusion(s): This study has shown a significant production of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNFα in endometriotic tissue and endometrium, with significant differences between the tissue types, indicating a deviating cytokine pattern in both endometriotic tissue and endometrium from women with endometriosis compared with that from healthy controls.