Hemmings R, Miron P, Falcone T, Bourque J, Lepage N, Langlais J
Institut de Médecine de la Reproduction de Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Obstet Gynecol. 1993 Feb;81(2):276-9.
To investigate whether platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase may play a role in the pathophysiology of endometriosis.
Peritoneal fluids were obtained at laparoscopy from eight fertile women without endometriosis and 12 women with mild endometriosis. Platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity was assayed in serum and peritoneal fluid by the release of 3H-acetate from [3H]-platelet-activating factor during a 15-minute incubation.
Platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity (mean +/- standard error of the mean) was significantly lower (P < .01) in peritoneal fluids from women with mild endometriosis (29.5 +/- 2.7%) than in controls (39.9 +/- 3.4%). The platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase-cholesterol and -albumin ratios were also significantly lower in peritoneal fluids of women with endometriosis compared with controls (P < .006 and P < .012, respectively).
These data suggest that mild endometriosis is associated with decreased platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity in peritoneal fluid.
