GnRH analogue remarkably down-regulates inflammatory proteins in peritoneal fluid proteome of women with endometriosis

OBJECTIVE: To determine the changes in the peritoneal fluid proteome of women with endometriosis determined by the administration of gonadotropin-releasing hor-mone analogues (GnRH-a). STUDY DESIGN: Peritone-al fluid samples were collect-ed during laparoscopy from patients under GnRH-a and from women who did not re-ceive any type of hormonal treatment in the 6 months before surgery. Samples were subjected to 2-D gel electro-phoresis and compared by computerized analysis. Pro-tein spots differentially expressed between the study groups were identified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. RESULTS: More than 470 protein spots were analyzed. Several proteins with significant alterations were found. The down-regulated molecules were isoforms of α2-HS glycoprotein, α1-antitrypsin, S100-A8, haptoglobin α chain and vitamin D-binding protein. No protein spot had significantly higher expression in peritoneal fluid of women under GnRH-a than in untreated patients. CONCLUSION: Several inflammatory molecules pres-ent in peritoneal fluid are down-regulated during treat-ment with GnRH-a; administration of this drug reduces the inflammation in the peritoneal cavity, (J Reprod Med 2009;54:223-231).