Objective: To establish a diagnostic model of endometriosis by analyzing serum peptidome patterns in patients with endometriosis using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS).
Methods: Serum samples from 21 endometriosis patients and 29 healthy control subjects were analyzed using MALDI-TOF-MS and Clinprotools 2.0 software to establish the diagnostic model of endometriosis, which was validated using the serum samples from 10 endometriosis patients and 15 healthy controls.
Results: Eighteen statistically significant peptide peaks were obtained with the m/z value ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 (P<0.01). Among the peaks, 12 were down-regulated and 6 up-regulated. The sensitivity and specificity of the model was 90.9% and 100.0%, respectively, with a diagnostic accuracy of 96.2%.
Conclusion: This model shows the feasibility of using MALDI-TOF-MS and Clinprotools software to identify the biomarkers of endometriosis.