International Journal of Molecular Sciences (Sep 2023)

Evaluation of Proteasome and Immunoproteasome Levels in Plasma and Peritoneal Fluid in Patients with Endometriosis

  • Monika Wróbel,
  • Zielińska Zuzanna,
  • Łukasz Ołdak,
  • Aleksandra Kalicka,
  • Grzegorz Mańka,
  • Mariusz Kiecka,
  • Robert Z. Spaczyński,
  • Piotr Piekarski,
  • Beata Banaszewska,
  • Artur Jakimiuk,
  • Tadeusz Issat,
  • Wojciech Rokita,
  • Jakub Młodawski,
  • Maria Szubert,
  • Piotr Sieroszewski,
  • Grzegorz Raba,
  • Kamil Szczupak,
  • Tomasz Kluz,
  • Marek Kluza,
  • Piotr Pierzyński,
  • Cezary Wojtyła,
  • Michał Lipa,
  • Damian Warzecha,
  • Mirosław Wielgoś,
  • Włodzimierz Sawicki,
  • Ewa Gorodkiewicz,
  • Piotr Laudański

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241814363
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 24, no. 18
p. 14363

Abstract

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Endometriosis is a chronic disease in which the endometrium cells are located outside the uterine cavity. The aim of this study was to evaluate circulating 20S proteasome and 20S immunoproteasome levels in plasma and peritoneal fluid in women with and without endometriosis in order to assess their usefulness as biomarkers of disease. Concentrations were measured using surface plasmon resonance imaging biosensors. Patients with suspected endometriosis were included in the study—plasma was collected in 112 cases and peritoneal fluid in 75. Based on the presence of endometriosis lesions detected during laparoscopy, patients were divided into a study group (confirmed endometriosis) and a control group (patients without endometriosis). Proteasome and immunoproteasome levels in both the plasma (p = 0.174; p = 0.696, respectively) and the peritoneal fluid (p = 0.909; p = 0.284, respectively) did not differ between those groups. There was a statistically significant difference in the plasma proteasome levels between patients in the control group and those with mild (Stage I and II) endometriosis (p = 0.047) and in the plasma immunoproteasome levels in patients with ovarian cysts compared to those without (p = 0.017). The results of our study do not support the relevance of proteasome and immunoproteasome determination as biomarkers of the disease but suggest a potentially active role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

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