Peritoneal fluid cytokine and eicosanoid levels and their relation to the incidence of peritoneal adhesion

OBJECTIVE: To determine the peritoneal fluid content of several cytokines and eicosanoids with inflammatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic, and fibrotic activities, and to assess the relationship of these levels with the incidence of peritoneal adhesions. METHODS: Peritoneal fluids were collected form 30 subjects with adhesions (n = 22) or with normal pelvic anatomy (n = 8), and the level of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-10 (IL-10), interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-beta 1), granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), prostaglandin E-2 (PGE(2)), leukotriene B-4 (LTB4), and thromboxane B-2 (TXB2) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and radioreceptor assay. RESULTS: the peritoneal fluid content of these factors varied considerable, with low levels of IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, IL-10, IFN-gamma, and GM-CSF. Only IFN-gamma levels were significantly lower in subjects with adhesions compared with the normal group (P < .05). The peritoneal fluid content of PGE(2), TXB2, and LTB4 was significantly higher than that of the cytokines and was higher, but not significantly so, in subjects with adhesions compared with normal subjects (P = .06). CONCLUSION: Although the effect of length of time since the adhesions were formed is not known, the results indicate that peritoneal fluid content of these cytokines and eicosanoids, with the exception of IFN-gamma and TGF-beta 1, does not correlate with the presence of peritoneal adhesions. Copyright (C) 1999 by the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.