Symptomatology and Serum Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomics; Do They Predict Endometriosis in Fertile Women Undergoing Laparoscopic Sterilisation? A Prospective Cross-sectional Study

Tempest, Nicola ORCID: 0000-0002-5209-2985, Hill, CJ ORCID: 0000-0003-3831-4569, Whelan, A, De Silva, A, Drakeley, AJ, Phelan, MM and Hapangama, DK ORCID: 0000-0003-0270-0150 (2021) Symptomatology and Serum Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomics; Do They Predict Endometriosis in Fertile Women Undergoing Laparoscopic Sterilisation? A Prospective Cross-sectional Study REPRODUCTIVE SCIENCES, 28 (12). pp. 3480-3490. ISSN 1933-7191, 1933-7205

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.

	Text NMR Reproductive sciences R2 changes accepted.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (109kB)
	Text Table1.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (13kB)

Abstract

Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory condition, thought to have a higher incidence in symptomatic women, yet, commonly associated symptoms do not always correlate with the presence or severity of disease and diagnosis requires surgery. We prospectively collected data and assessed symptomology and NMR spectroscopy-based metabolomics of 102 women undergoing laparoscopic sterilisation at a tertiary referral centre in a cross-sectional study. Twelve women were incidentally diagnosed with endometriosis (11.7%). According to the pre-operative questionnaire, presence and absence of many symptoms usually attributed to endometriosis were declared at similar frequencies in women with or without endometriosis. Women with endometriosis reported apparently more persistent heavy periods (50% vs 18.9%), prolonged periods (25% versus 7.8%) and problems conceiving (27.3% versus 9%) than those without endometriosis. NMR could not discern any distinguishable differences in the serum metabolome between those with and without endometriosis. Our paper highlights the complex symptomology experienced by women, regardless of a surgical diagnosis of endometriosis. Previous literature and the current study failed to identify clear, distinguishable symptoms or biomarkers pertinent to surgically confirmed endometriosis in the general population. Therefore, development of effective, non-invasive tests for identifying this heterogenous benign condition, endometriosis, is likely to be challenging.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Endometriosis, Incidence, Diagnosis, NMR, Metabolomics, Biomarkers
Divisions:	Faculty of Health & Life Sciences Faculty of Health & Life Sciences > Inst. Life Courses & Medical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2021 08:20
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2026 09:30
DOI:	10.1007/s43032-021-00725-w
Open Access URL:	http://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-021-00725-w
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3134687
Disclaimer:	The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate.