Nothnick Warren B, Al-Hendy Ayman, Lue John R
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Center for Reproductive Sciences, Institute of Reproductive Health and Regenerative Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Georgia Regents University, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, Georgia.
J Minim Invasive Gynecol. 2015 Jul-Aug;22(5):719-26. doi: 10.1016/j.jmig.2015.02.021. Epub 2015 Mar 7.
Endometriosis represents a major medical concern in women of reproductive age. One of the remaining major hurdles for successful treatment of endometriosis is the limitation of the process of timely disease diagnosis. A simple blood test for endometriosis-specific biomarkers would offer a more timely accurate diagnosis for the disease, thus allowing for earlier treatment intervention. Although there have been considerable efforts to identify such biomarkers, no clear choice for such noninvasive diagnostic tools has been identified. Micro-RNAs are small noncoding RNAs that have been evaluated intensively as biomarkers for several diseases, and they may hold promise for a diagnosis of endometriosis. In this review, we highlight the need for noninvasive testing for endometriosis, discuss the potential use of micro-RNAs as diagnostic tools for this disease, and consider potential limitations in the use of these small RNA molecules as diagnostic markers for endometriosis.
子宫内膜异位症是育龄期女性主要的医学问题之一。成功治疗子宫内膜异位症尚存的主要障碍之一是疾病及时诊断过程的局限性。一项针对子宫内膜异位症特异性生物标志物的简单血液检测将为该疾病提供更及时准确的诊断，从而实现更早的治疗干预。尽管人们已经付出了相当大的努力来识别此类生物标志物，但尚未确定这种非侵入性诊断工具的明确选择。微小RNA是一类小的非编码RNA，已被深入评估作为多种疾病的生物标志物，它们可能有望用于诊断子宫内膜异位症。在本综述中，我们强调了对子宫内膜异位症进行非侵入性检测的必要性，讨论了微小RNA作为该疾病诊断工具的潜在用途，并考虑了将这些小RNA分子用作子宫内膜异位症诊断标志物的潜在局限性。
