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Examination of cervical swabs of patients with endometriosis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

  • Gynecologic Endocrinology and Reproductive Medicine
  • Published:
Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

There is no established non-invasive method to diagnose patients with endometriosis. As a nondestructive type of radiation, infrared light might be used for discrimination by causing vibration of the covalent bonds of the molecules when absorbed by the tissues. The aim of the study was to test whether cervical swab can be used to diagnose women with endometriosis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).

Methods

In this prospective case–control study, women between 18–45 years old and undergoing laparoscopy due to various reasons were recruited (n = 20). According to the findings during laparoscopy, patients were stratified as stage I–II or stage III–IV endometriosis groups. Women lacking any visible lesions of endometriosis were recruited as controls. A cervical swab was taken from all patients just before the surgical procedure and pulled into a tube containing saline solution. FTIR spectra were obtained and the fingerprint region (1750–850 cm−1) was used for analyses.

Results

Finally, three samples in stage I–II, five samples in stage III–IV and five samples in the control group were analyzed. Hierarchical cluster analysis and principal component analysis were performed as the chemometric method. A total of ten observable peaks were detected in the absorbance spectra of samples. The peaks at 1450 and 1405 cm−1 originating from lipids and proteins significantly increased in the stage III–IV endometriosis group when compared with controls. In addition, nucleic acid/carbohydrate ratio was significantly lower in the stage I–II group indicating that the alteration of the carbohydrate level might be important.

Conclusions

Examination of cervical swab with FTIR spectroscopy might be a proper candidate for a non-invasive diagnostic approach of endometriosis.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Hacettepe University Research Projects (Project Number: 6028).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Sihhiye, 06100, Ankara, Turkey

    Gurkan Bozdag, Pinar Calis, Sezcan Mumusoglu & Hakan Yarali

  2. Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Sciences and Arts, Nevsehir Haci Bektas Veli University, Nevsehir, Turkey

    Nasit Igci

  3. Biotechnology Institute, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nasit Igci, Beycan Ayhan & Duygu Ozel Demiralp

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey

    Duygu Ozel Demiralp

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  1. Gurkan Bozdag
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  2. Nasit Igci
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  3. Pinar Calis
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  4. Beycan Ayhan
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  5. Duygu Ozel Demiralp
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Contributions

GB: Project development, data collection, manuscript writing. NI: protocol development, data management, data analysis. PC: data collection, manuscript writing. BA: protocol development, data management, data analysis. DOD: project development, data analysis, manuscript writing. SM: data analysis, manuscript writing. HY: data collection, manuscript writing/editing.

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Correspondence to Gurkan Bozdag.

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Bozdag, G., Igci, N., Calis, P. et al. Examination of cervical swabs of patients with endometriosis using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Arch Gynecol Obstet 299, 1501–1508 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05105-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00404-019-05105-z

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