Evaluated level of soluble Fas ligand in peritoneal fluid and serum in women with endometriosis compared to non-endometriosis women

Endometriosis is a common gynecological disorder, which its main feature is the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. In this disease, apoptosis is impaired in endometrial cells transmitted to the peritoneal cavity, and thus these cells remain in ectopic sites and grow there. FasL-expressing cells induce apoptosis when they bind to Fas-bearing immune cells. Soluble Fas ligand can be proteolytically cleaved from membrane-bound Fas ligand by metalloproteinases. Studies show that both soluble and membranous form of FasL in peritoneal cavity of endometriotic women can induce apoptosis of Fas bearing immune cells. Therefore, in this study the serum and peritoneal fluid levels of sFasL in patients with endometriosis compared with non-endometriotic subjects were evaluated. In this case-control study, which was performed from 2016 to 2017, peritoneal cavity of 19 patients with endometriosis and 19 healthy subjects, and also serum of 16 patients with endometriosis and 12 healthy subjects were studied. ELISA were used to determine the sFasL. The results of this study showed that the amount of sFasL in peritoneal cavity of endometriosis patients is higher than healthy group, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.07). Also, the serum sFasL level of patients was not different from control group. Expression of high sFasL in the peritoneal fluid can be one of the factors involved in the removal of Fas-expressing immune cells in the peritoneal fluid, which plays an essential role in the progression of the disease.