A high sensitivity assay is more accurate than a classical assay for the measurement of plasma CRP levels in endometriosis

Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology

Methodology

Xavier Bossuyt¹  Christel Meuleman²  Carla Tomassetti²  Karen Peeraer²  Thomas M D'Hooghe³  Cleophas M Kyama⁴  Amelie Fassbender⁵  Alexandra Vodolazkaia⁵ 

[1] Department of Laboratory Medicine, Leuven University Hospital, Leuven, Belgium;Leuven University Fertility Centre, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium;Leuven University Fertility Centre, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium;Division of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya;Leuven University Fertility Centre, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium;Division of Reproductive Biology, Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya;Experimental Gynaecology Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, KU Leuven, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, B3000, Leuven, Belgium;Leuven University Fertility Centre, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium;Experimental Gynaecology Laboratory, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, KU Leuven, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49, B3000, Leuven, Belgium;

关键词: Endometriosis;    Diagnostic Performance;    Luteal Phase;    Cycle Phase;    hsCRP Level;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1477-7827-9-113

 received in 2011-04-28, accepted in 2011-08-09,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEndometriosis is associated with chronic subclinical inflammation. C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation, could serve as a biomarker of endometriosis. We tested the hypothesis that a high sensitivity CRP assay (hsCRP) is more accurate than a classical CRP assay in the detection of subclinical inflammation in plasma of women with endometriosis.MethodsCRP levels were measured by hsCRP and classical CRP assays in plasma of 204 women with endometriosis and 91 women without endometriosis. Both assays were compared with respect to their value for the diagnosis of endometriosis.ResultsThe number of plasma samples with detectable CRP was significantly higher (100%) using the hsCRP assay when compared to the classical CRP assay (42.7%) (p < 0.0001). Significantly increased CRP plasma levels were found in women with endometriosis when compared with controls when the hsCRP assay was used in samples obtained during the luteal phase (p = 0.008). The highest discriminative ability for the diagnosis of endometriosis was also obtained using the hsCRP assay during the luteal phase, especially for moderate -severe endometriosis. At a cut-off level of hsCRP > 0.71 mg/L, moderate-severe stages were diagnosed with 80.7% sensitivity and 63.9% specificity during the luteal phase. Using a similar cut-off value for CRP analyzed by the classical method, moderate-severe endometriosis was diagnosed with lower sensitivity (67.7%, p = 0.06) and comparable specificity (63.9%).ConclusionsThe hsCRP assay was superior to the classical CRP assay for the detection of low CRP levels and for revealing subclinical inflammation in plasma of women with endometriosis.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Vodolazkaia et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.