#AI reads Urine#Urinary Urocortin as a Potential Non-Invasive Biomarker in Endometriosis
Published 30 September, 2025
This study is an exploratory research aiming to evaluate the diagnostic performance and clinical significance of urocortin and histone H4 in serum and urine as potential non-invasive biomarkers for ovarian endometriosis. The study cohort included 40 women, consisting of 30 patients with histologically confirmed ovarian endometriosis, 5 patients with parietal endometriosis, and 5 healthy controls. All participants were assessed during the proliferative phase of their menstrual cycles. Standardized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to quantify the levels of these two substances in the samples, followed by statistical analysis.
The results showed that there were no significant differences in serum urocortin levels among the three groups (mean value: 3.63 μg/mL in the ovarian endometriosis group, 3.59 μg/mL in the parietal endometriosis group, and 3.70 μg/mL in the control group; p > 0.05). In contrast, the urinary urocortin level in patients with ovarian endometriosis (2.51 μg/mL) was significantly higher than that in the parietal endometriosis group (0.13 μg/mL) and the control group (0.33 μg/mL; p = 0.001). Additionally, age, age at menarche, and disease duration could explain 28.3% of the variation in urinary urocortin levels (adjusted R² = 0.283; p = 0.002).
Serum histone H4 was slightly elevated in the ovarian endometriosis group (0.49 ng/mL), but there were no statistical differences among the three groups. Although urinary histone H4 levels showed slight variations, they had no discriminatory value. Furthermore, urocortin exhibited good potential in diagnosing ovarian endometriosis (area under the curve: 0.973, sensitivity: 93%, specificity: 80%), while histone H4 had no significant diagnostic performance. The results of this study still need to be further verified in larger-scale, multi-center, and strictly controlled studies, and it also provides directions for supplementing a biomarker panel with potential non-invasive diagnostic value.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2025 Sep 15;61(9):1671. doi: 10.3390/medicina61091671.
Youhe Gao
Statement: During the preparation of this work the author(s) used Doubao / AI reading for summarizing the content. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the published article.
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