Mozhgan Mahmoodi Nasab,1,*
1. Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Rafsanjan University of Medical sciences.
Introduction: Endometriosis is a common disorder, characterized by ectopic endometrial tissue. Despite its high prevalence, the diagnosis is usually delayed for several years, which may be because the gold standard for diagnosis is an invasive surgical assessment by laparoscopy or laparotomy. The recent discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs), make them an attractive biomarker. Various studies on miRNAs in endometriosis have identified their cardinal role in the pathogenesis of the disease and have proposed them as potential biomarkers. The aim of this review is to find out the possible effect miRNA as biomarker of endometriosis.
Methods: A literature search of eligible studies was conducted in the PubMed database from 2017 to 2021. By searching relevant keywords: (“miRNA or RNA”) AND (“endometriosis”) AND (“diagnostic biomarker”) a total of 26 studies (systematic reviews and meta-analysis) were found, 6 of which were finally reviewed in this study.
Results: The sample type was serum and plasma in all studies, but most miRNAs found in one study were harvested from tissue samples, which precludes their use as a non-invasive diagnostic test. At 2 studies MiR-200 family, miR-143, 145, miR-20a, and miR199a miR-17-5p were the most dysregulated miRNAs in endometriosis.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that circulating microRNAs may act as potential non-invasive biomarkers of endometriosis, but no single miRNA has been approved as a diagnostic biomarker so far. Due to incomplete results and low sample studies; More well-designed studies with more samples are needed.