Serum YKL-40 Level Positively Correlates With Uterine Leiomyomas

Uterine leiomyomas (ULMs) are the most common benign tumors in premenopausal women associated with major tissue fibrosis. It has been suggested that inflammatory response is associated with the development of ULM. YKL-40 is a chitinase-like protein present in serum of healthy participants, and its levels are increased in several human inflammatory diseases. However, the association between YKL-40 and ULM has not been reported. The aim of this study was to identify whether serum YKL-40 levels correlate with ULM. Premenopausal women with ULM (n = 61) and leiomyoma-free control women (n = 45) were recruited for this study. Serum YKL-40 levels were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Correlations were assessed by Spearman rank correlation test. Receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) curve was used to define the optimal cutoff value for predicting ULM. We found that serum YKL-40 levels in patients with ULM were significantly higher than in healthy controls (P < .001). Positive correlation was also observed between serum YKL-40 levels and leiomyoma weight (r = .92; P < .001). Moreover, ROC curves yielded robust area under the curve value (0.94) accompanied by high sensitivity (82.0%) and specificity (91.1%) in distinguishing patients with ULM from healthy controls. These findings suggest that elevated serum YKL-40 levels are associated with the existence of ULM, and YKL-40 might be a potential adjunct biomarker for diagnosis of ULM.