TY  - JOUR
AB  - BACKGROUNDCurrent non-invasive diagnostic methods for endometriosis lack sensitivity and specificity. In search for new diagnostic biomarkers for ovarian endometriosis, we used a hypothesis-generating targeted metabolomics approach.METHODSIn a case-control study, we collected plasma of study participants and analysed their metabolic profiles. We selected a group of 40 patients with ovarian endometriosis who underwent laparoscopic surgery and a control group of 52 healthy women who underwent sterilization at the University Clinical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia. Over 140 targeted analytes included glycerophospholipids, sphingolipids and acylcarnitines. The analytes were quantified by electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. For assessing the strength of association between the metabolite or metabolite ratios and the disease, we used crude and adjusted odds ratios. A stepwise logistic regression procedure was used for selecting the best combination of biomarkers.RESULTSEight lipid metabolites were identified as endometriosis-associated biomarkers due to elevated levels in patients compared with controls. A model containing hydroxysphingomyelin SMOH C16:1 and the ratio between phosphatidylcholine PCaa C36:2 to ether-phospholipid PCae C34:2, adjusted for the effect of age and the BMI, resulted in a sensitivity of 90.0%, a specificity of 84.3% and a ratio of the positive likelihood ratio to the negative likelihood ratio of 48.3.CONCLUSIONSOur results suggest that endometriosis is associated with elevated levels of sphingomyelins and phosphatidylcholines, which might contribute to the suppression of apoptosis and affect lipid-associated signalling pathways. Our findings suggest novel potential routes for therapy by specifically blocking highly up-regulated isoforms of phosphpolipase A2 and lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 4.
AU  - Vouk, K.*
AU  - Hevir, N.*
AU  - Ribič-Pucelj, M.*
AU  - Haarpaintner, G.*
AU  - Scherb, H.
AU  - Osredkar, J.*
AU  - Möller, G.
AU  - Prehn, C.
AU  - Rizner, T.L.*
AU  - Adamski, J.
C1  - 8365
C2  - 30076
SP  - 2955-2965
TI  - Discovery of phosphatidylcholines and sphingomyelins as biomarkers for ovarian endometriosis.
JO  - Hum. Reprod.
VL  - 27
IS  - 10
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
PY  - 2012
SN  - 0268-1161
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AB  - A significantly reduced male reproductive health status, including a higher prevalence of cryptorchidism and hypospadias, has been documented in Danish men compared with Finnish men. Exposure to environmental pollutants with endocrine disrupting activities has been suggested as a possible contributing factor. In this study, we investigated whether there was a difference in milk and placental concentrations of persistent organohalogen compounds, between the two countries. METHODS: Organohalogens were analysed by high-resolution gas chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry in human milk samples from Finland (n = 65) and Denmark (n = 65) and in placentas from Finland (n = 112) and Denmark (n = 168). RESULTS: 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p'-DDE) was the dominant pollutant. beta-Hexa-chloro-cyclohexane (beta-HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), endosulfan-I, dieldrin, oxychlordane (OXC), cis-heptachloroepoxide (c-HE) and 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane (p,p'-DDT) were the other main organochlorines detected. Danish samples had significantly higher concentrations of p,p'-DDE, p,p'-DDT, beta-HCH, HCB, dieldrin, c-HE and OXC than did the Finnish samples. Levels of organobrominated compounds were very low and most were undetectable in the majority of samples. BB-153 and BB-155 were the most abundant polybromobiphenyl congeners. BB-153 was more abundant in Danish milk samples compared with Finnish samples, whereas BB-155 was more abundant in the Finnish milk. CONCLUSIONS: The organochlorine levels were higher in Danish, than in Finnish, samples, suggesting a higher exposure for Danish infants.
AU  - Shen, H.*
AU  - Main, K.M.*
AU  - Andersson, A.M.*
AU  - Damgaard, I.N.*
AU  - Virtanen, H.E.*
AU  - Skakkebaek, N.E.*
AU  - Toppari, J.*
AU  - Schramm, K.-W.
C1  - 2677
C2  - 25605
SP  - 201-210
TI  - Concentrations of persistent organochlorine compounds in human milk and placenta are higher in Denmark than in Finland.
JO  - Hum. Reprod.
VL  - 23
IS  - 1
PB  - IRL-Press
PY  - 2008
SN  - 0268-1161
ER  - 

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Codina-Pascual, M.*
AU  - Navarro, J.*
AU  - Oliver-Bonet, M.*
AU  - Kraus, J.
AU  - Speicher, M.R.
AU  - Arango, O.*
AU  - Egozcue, J.*
AU  - Benet, J.*
C1  - 3051
C2  - 23676
SP  - 1490-1497
TI  - Behaviour of human heterochromatic regions during the synapsis of homologous chromosomes.
JO  - Hum. Reprod.
VL  - 21
PY  - 2006
SN  - 0268-1161
ER  -