Analysis of inflammatory networks may influence future treatment of endometriosis

Molecular profiling of patients with endometriosis reveals cytokine profile elevated in certain subpopulations.

In a recent article published in Science Translational Medicine, a group of researchers present their findings on molecular profiling of patients suffering from endometriosis, with the objective being to allow improved treatment decisions and to present new targets for therapeutics.

The team, which included researchers from both Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MA, USA) and Newton Wellesley Hospital (MA, USA), analyzed peritoneal fluid from 77 patients, who presented with a range of endometriosis symptom severity. A total of 50 proteins were analyzed in each sample, including various cytokines, which play a part in the body’s inflammatory response. A subset of patients with a ‘consensus signature’ of 13 cytokines was identified, with an association found between this signature and certain symptoms.

The researchers explain that, if proven to be a clinically relevant inflammatory network, these findings could be used in the future – both to guide future treatment decisions, in terms of reliably differentiating different patient subgroups, and to drive future treatment options, providing a target for new therapeutic agents and a measure to assess the efficacy of such agents.

Source: Beste MT, Pfäffle-Doyle N, Prentice EA et al. Molecular network analysis of endometriosis reveals a role for c-jun–regulated macrophage activation. Sci. Transl. Med. 6(222), 222ra16 (2014).