Serum biomarker profiles of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factoralpha, matrix-metalloproteinase-2, and vascular endothelial growth factor in endometriosis staging

Background: the focus of this study was to compare serum biomarkers: interleukin-6 (il-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (tnf-α), matrix-metalloproteinase-2 (mmp-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) in endometriosis stage i-ii and stage iii-iv. methods: this is a cross-sectional study. forty endometriosis patients were diagnosed using laparoscopy procedure. serum sample was taken before the surgery. the serum biomarkers (il-6, tnf-α, mmp-2, and vegf) were analyzed with elisa method at the end of research. mean of serum biomarkers in endometrosis stage i-ii and stage iii-iv were compared using unpaired t-test. variables that show significant mean difference were tested using roc measurement and the optimal cut-off point was determined. results: there was no significant difference in mean serum biomarkers level of il-6, tnf-α, and mmp-2 between endometriosis stage i-ii and stage iii-iv (1.58 ± 0.78 vs 1.55 ± 0.98 pg/ml, 1.5 ± 0.47 vs 1.49 ± 0.29 pg/ml, and 152.04 ± 27.32 vs 140.98 ± 28.08 ng/ml, respectively). on the other hand, the comparison of vegf level in endometriosis stage i-ii and stage iii-iv demonstrated significant difference (289.76 ± 188.13 vs 581.29 ± 512.85 pg/ml (p < 0.05)). mean difference of vegf had auc of 74.5%. optimal cut-off point for vegf was ≥ 314.75 pg/ml with sensitivity 78.6% and specificity 69.2%. conclusion: this study showed that serum biomarkers of vegf level (but not il-6, tnf-α, and mmp-2) can be used to measure the degree of severity in endometriosis. vegf level of 314.75 pg/ml represents the cut-off point between lower and higher stage of severity.