Decrease in interferon gamma production and impairment of T-lymphocyte proliferation in peritoneal fluid of women
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine and the Hospital, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Republic of China.
Objective:
Our purpose was to verify regional immune modulations and to test the effect of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in women with endometriosis.
Study Design:
Concentrations of peritoneal cytokines, including interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-2, soluble interleukin-2 receptor, interleukin-6, granulocyte-monocyte colony-stimulating factor, interferon gamma, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were compared in women with and without endometriosis. Peritoneal cytokine and interleukin-2 production were examined by adding various mitogens to peritoneal fluid mononuclear cells of women with advanced endometriosis before and after gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment.
Results:
A significant increase in peritoneal interleukin-1 beta, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha and a decrease in interferon gamma were noted in women with endometriosis. After gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment interleukin-6 decreased and interferon gamma increased. A significant impairment of interleukin-2 production of peritoneal fluid mononuclear cells by phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen stimulation was demonstrated in endometriosis, and production could be restored after gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist treatment.
Conclusion:
These results indicate that regional immunologic dysfunction might be invoked in the disease process of endometriosis.
