Background

Endometriosis is a chronic gynaecological disease whose aetiology is still unknown. Despite its prevalence among women of reproductive age, the pathology of the disease has not yet been elucidated and only symptomatic treatment is available. Endometriosis has high latency and diagnostic methods are both limited and invasive.

Aim of review

The aim of this review is to summarise minimally invasive or non-invasive diagnostic methods for endometriosis and their diagnostic efficiencies. Furthermore, we discuss the identification and diagnostic potential of novel disease biomarkers of microbial or glycan origin.

Key scientific concepts of review

Great efforts have been made to develop minimally invasive or non-invasive diagnostic methods in endometriosis. The problem with most potential biomarker candidates is that they have high accuracy only in cases of severe disease. Therefore, it is necessary to examine other potential biomarkers more closely. Associations between gastrointestinal and genital tract microbial health and endometriosis have been identified. For instance, irritable bowel syndrome is more common in women with endometriosis, and hormonal imbalance has a negative impact on the microbiome of both the genital tract and the gastrointestinal system. Further interrogation of these associations may have potential diagnostic significance and may identify novel therapeutic avenues. Glycomics may also be a potent source of biomarkers of endometriosis, with a number of glyco-biomarkers already approved by the FDA. Endometriosis-associated microbial and glycomic profiles may represent viable targets for development of innovative diagnostics in this debilitating disease.

中文翻译：

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子宫内膜异位症的新诊断选择——基于糖组和微生物组

背景

子宫内膜异位症是一种慢性妇科疾病，病因尚不清楚。尽管它在育龄妇女中流行，但该病的病理学尚未阐明，只能进行对症治疗。子宫内膜异位症具有高潜伏期，诊断方法有限且具有侵入性。

审查目的

本综述的目的是总结子宫内膜异位症的微创或无创诊断方法及其诊断效率。此外，我们讨论了微生物或聚糖来源的新型疾病生物标志物的鉴定和诊断潜力。

审查的关键科学概念

为开发子宫内膜异位症的微创或无创诊断方法做出了巨大努力。大多数潜在的候选生物标志物的问题在于，它们仅在严重疾病的情况下具有很高的准确性。因此，有必要更仔细地检查其他潜在的生物标志物。已经确定了胃肠道和生殖道微生物健康与子宫内膜异位症之间的关联。例如，肠易激综合征在患有子宫内膜异位症的女性中更为常见，荷尔蒙失调对生殖道和胃肠系统的微生物群都有负面影响。对这些关联的进一步询问可能具有潜在的诊断意义，并可能确定新的治疗途径。糖组学也可能是子宫内膜异位症生物标志物的有效来源，具有许多已获得 FDA 批准的糖生物标志物。子宫内膜异位症相关的微生物和糖组学特征可能代表了在这种使人衰弱的疾病中开发创新诊断的可行目标。