Evaluation of YB-1 levels in patients with endometriosis

Objective The objective of this study is the evaluation of serum YB-1 levels in the diagnosis of endometriosis. Study design Serum samples of 12 patients with histologically confirmed endometriosis and of 10 control patients were collected. Western blot analysis was used to assess serum YB-1 levels. Groups were compared with Student's t-test or, if not normally distributed, with the Mann-Whitney test. Sensitivity and specificity for the potential diagnostic performance of serum YB-1 were assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results Serum YB-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with endometriosis (=0.004). The area under the curve was 0.867 (95% confidence interval 0.714-1.019) with sensitivity and specificity of 83.3% and 70% respectively. Conclusions Serum YB-1 levels in patients with endometriosis are significantly higher compared to control patients and may be used as a potential diagnostic biomarker for endometriosis.