Cytokine profiles and metabolic dysregulation in endometriosis: insights into diagnostic and therapeutic targets

Introduction Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder marked by the ectopic growth of endometrial-like tissue, affecting 10–15% of women of reproductive age. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6) drive inflammation and disease progression, while anti-inflammatory cytokines (TGF-β, IL-10) maintain immune balance. Metabolic markers like homocysteine, folic acid, and vitamin B12 may influence immune regulation and contribute to endometriosis pathophysiology. Methodology Serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, TGF-β, CRP, Ferritin, IL-4, IFN-γ, Homocysteine, Folic Acid, and Vitamin B12 were quantified using ELISA kits. Unpaired t-tests and Pearson correlation were used to assess immune-metabolic differences between endometriosis patients and healthy controls.

TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-10, homocysteine, ferritin, and reduced IFN-γ and CRP levels in the case group compared to controls (p < 0.05). TNFα (p = 0.0008), IL-1β (p = 0.0005), and homocysteine (p < 0.0001) were notably higher in cases. IFN-γ (p < 0.0001) and CRP (p < 0.0001) were significantly lower in cases. IL-6 (p = 0.0020), IL-10 (p = 0.0051), ferritin (p = 0.0338), and folate (p = 0.0134) also showed significant differences. TGF-β, IL-4, and Vit-B12 levels did not differ significantly (p > 0.05). These findings suggest altered cytokine and biochemical profiles in disease pathophysiology.

The study highlights significant alterations in inflammatory cytokines and metabolic markers in endometriosis patients compared to healthy controls. Elevated pro-inflammatory and altered anti-inflammatory cytokine levels, along with metabolic imbalance, suggest immune-metabolic dysregulation in disease pathogenesis. These findings may aid in identifying potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for endometriosis. Graphical abstract Similar content being viewed by others Data availability The detailed datasets analyzed during the current study are available with the corresponding author. In the future, it will be made available on reasonable request. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request.

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We want to extend our sincere gratitude to Multi-Disciplinary Research Units (MRUs) Laboratory, a grant by ICMR-Department of Health Research. Funding Not available. Author information Authors and Affiliations Contributions RS, and SR conceived and designed the project. AA, SM, AKY and SV performed all operations. AKM analysed the data and SM drew the figures. SM and AA wrote the manuscript. AA, SM, AKM and RS revised the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version. Corresponding author Ethics declarations Ethics statement The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Ethics Committee of the Institutional Ethical committee before starting the study (Dean/2018/EC/936). Consent to participate All research procedures were approved by and in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. Consent for publication Not available. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests. Conflict of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Additional information Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Electronic supplementary material Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. Rights and permissions Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law. About this article Cite this article Ashish, A., Rai, S., Mishra, S. et al. Cytokine profiles and metabolic dysregulation in endometriosis: insights into diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Mol Biol Rep 52, 641 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-025-10766-y Received: Accepted: Published: Version of record: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-025-10766-y