INTRODUCTION

The central role of the immune system is to detect and remove abnormally growing endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. The purpose of this study was to identify the features of the relationship between the content of innate immunity cells and the level of cytokines in the peripheral blood (PB) and peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with endometriosis, reflecting the prevalence of the process.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Lymphocytes were phenotyped by flow cytometry and the content of immunoregulatory molecules (IL-1β, IL-1ra, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-9, IL -10, IL-12(p70), IL-13, IL-15, IL-17A, IFN-g, TNFα, MCP-1, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, IP-10, CSF, GM-CSF, PDGF-bb, RANTES, Eotaxin, VEGF, FGF basic), TGF-β isoforms in PC before surgery and in pancreas intraoperatively, in women with endometriosis of I—II degree (n=20) and III-IV degree of distribution (n=28). The control group consisted of 19 women with no genital endometriosis.

RESULTS

Relationships between the subpopulation composition of PB lymphocytes and the concentration of cytokines in the pancreas of women with endometriosis were revealed, which confirms the interdependence of systemic and local immunity. An analysis was made of the relationship between the content of lymphocyte/monocyte subpopulations and the level of soluble factors in PB of patients from different groups. It has been established that there are strong correlations between cell subpopulations with different functional orientations and different subgroups of soluble immunoregulatory molecules. The relationship of classical monocytes with a large spectrum of cytokines in the PB of women in the control group, with a smaller spectrum in patients with stages III—IV, was revealed, and the absence of such a relationship in the PB of patients with stages I—II of endometriosis was shown.

CONCLUSIONS

The data obtained indicate significant differences in the relationships between the subpopulation composition of lymphocytes and the measured soluble protein molecules in the PB of women at different stages of endometriosis development. The absence of correlations between the levels of the studied cells and soluble factors in the PB of patients with an early stage of endometriosis may indicate a dysfunction of the innate link of the immune system, which contributes to the development of heterotopias, while the presence of correlations between classical monocytes and the level of growth factors in patients with an advanced process may indicate the consequences of a chronic process.