Uterine leiomyomas are common benign tumors developing from smooth muscle tissues, often leading to infertility and recurrent abortions. Pregnancy and development of uterine fibroids are characterized by an unusual rate of myometrium growth, hyperproduction of extracellular matrix and increased expression of numerous growth factor receptors. The purpose of this study was to determine concentrations of some key growth factors (IL-5, IL-7, IL-9, FGF-β, G-CSF, VEGF and PDGF) in blood serum of women with uterine myoma. Concentrations of the 27 cytokines were determined using a Bio Rad kit (USA) – Bio-Plex Pro™. Human Cytokine 27-plex Assay by means of flow-through fluorometry at the Bio-Plex 200 double-beam laser analyzer. Thirty-six patients with verified uterine myoma were followed up, being later subject to operative treatment (laparoscopic myomectomy). The results of this study showed a trend to decreased amounts of some hematopoiesis and angiogenesis growth factors, e.g., IL-9 and FGF, in blood serum of women with uterine myoma. Сoncentrations of IL-5, IL-7, and G-CSF proved to be significantly decreased if compared to serum contents of European healthy women. The most significant decrease was registered for pro-angiogenic factors, such as VEGF and PDGF. Their serum concentration in women with leiomyoma was reduced, respectively, 3- and 6-fold against controls. The decreased G-CSF concentration was not only quite significant, as compared to healthy women, but showed significant correlations with changes of such factors as IL-5, IL-7 and IL-9, with correlation quotients of, resp., 0.723, 0.637, and 0.504, respectively. One may conclude that, in spite of literature data on significantly increased contents of the mentioned growth factors in tissues of myometrium and growing uterine leiomyoma, our data show that the concentrations of these regulatory proteins in blood serum are decreased to some extent in this clinical condition.
