Serum Versican As a Potential Biomarker in Patients with Uterine Fibroids: A Study from Eastern India

Overview

Journal J Family Med Prim Care

Specialty Public Health

Date 2023 Sep 28

PMID 37767449

Authors

Pratima Jasti

Suchitra Kumari

Sweta Singh

P P Anudeep

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: Versican is a chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan with raised expression at site of inflammation, and uterine fibroids are associated with local inflammation. Hence, this study aimed to estimate serum Versican levels in pre-menopausal women with uterine fibroids to evaluate its diagnostic efficiency.

Materials And Methods: This case-control study included forty uterine fibroid cases and 40 healthy controls. Cases clinically evaluated with USG findings, that is number, location of fibroid and volume calculated by prolate ellipse formula a × b × c × 0.523 (a - height, b - width, c - depth). Biochemical investigations, that is serum Versican levels, were estimated by ELISA with total cholesterol, HDLc and LDLc. Triglycerides by fully automated chemistry analysers. Serum biochemical parameters were compared and correlated with volume of fibroid. Area under receiver operating characteristic curve was calculated along with cut-off value to determine diagnostic potential of Versican, differentiating women with fibroids.

Results: In the present study, patients with fibroids had decreased levels of serum Versican (79.43 ± 18.60) as compared to healthy controls (101.81 ± 28.24, < 0.001). There was a statistically significant negative correlation ( = - 0. 307, = 0.04) between serum Versican level and volume of fibroid. Area under ROC was 0.726 (95% CI: 0.616-0.836; = 0.001). The best cut-off value for serum Versican level was 96.90 ng/ml with 90% sensitivity and 48% specificity.

Conclusion: Serum Versican levels were found significantly lower in women with fibroid with a negative correlation with volume of fibroid uterus. Furthermore, extensive study would help in substantiating diagnostic potential of serum Versican in fibroid uterus patients.

Citing Articles

Differential Expression of Small Non-Coding RNAs in Uterine Leiomyomas.

Chuang T, Ton N, Rysling S, Baghdasarian D, Khorram O Int J Mol Sci. 2025; 26(4).

PMID: 40004152 PMC: 11854932. DOI: 10.3390/ijms26041688.

References

Khan A, Shehmar M, Gupta J . Uterine fibroids: current perspectives. Int J Womens Health. 2014; 6:95-114. PMC: 3914832. DOI: 10.2147/IJWH.S51083. View

Yamada T, Nakago S, Kurachi O, Wang J, Takekida S, Matsuo H . Progesterone down-regulates insulin-like growth factor-I expression in cultured human uterine leiomyoma cells. Hum Reprod. 2004; 19(4):815-21. DOI: 10.1093/humrep/deh146. View

Aninye I, Laitner M . Uterine Fibroids: Assessing Unmet Needs from Bench to Bedside. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2021; 30(8):1060-1067. PMC: 8432600. DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2021.0280. View

Islam M, Ciavattini A, Petraglia F, Castellucci M, Ciarmela P . Extracellular matrix in uterine leiomyoma pathogenesis: a potential target for future therapeutics. Hum Reprod Update. 2017; 24(1):59-85. DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmx032. View

Keire P, Bressler S, Lemire J, Edris B, Rubin B, Rahmani M . A role for versican in the development of leiomyosarcoma. J Biol Chem. 2014; 289(49):34089-103. PMC: 4256343. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M114.607168. View

Huang D, Magaoay B, Rosen M, Cedars M . Presence of Fibroids on Transvaginal Ultrasonography in a Community-Based, Diverse Cohort of 996 Reproductive-Age Female Participants. JAMA Netw Open. 2023; 6(5):e2312701. PMC: 10173016. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.12701. View

Norian J, Malik M, Parker C, Joseph D, Leppert P, Segars J . Transforming growth factor beta3 regulates the versican variants in the extracellular matrix-rich uterine leiomyomas. Reprod Sci. 2009; 16(12):1153-64. PMC: 2857408. DOI: 10.1177/1933719109343310. View

Barker N, Carrino D, Caplan A, Hurd W, Liu J, Tan H . Proteoglycans in Leiomyoma and Normal Myometrium: Abundance, Steroid Hormone Control, and Implications for Pathophysiology. Reprod Sci. 2015; 23(3):302-9. PMC: 5933092. DOI: 10.1177/1933719115607994. View

Wight T . Versican: a versatile extracellular matrix proteoglycan in cell biology. Curr Opin Cell Biol. 2002; 14(5):617-23. DOI: 10.1016/s0955-0674(02)00375-7. View

10.

Sand J, Tanino Y, Karsdal M, Nikaido T, Misa K, Sato Y . A Serological Biomarker of Versican Degradation is Associated with Mortality Following Acute Exacerbations of Idiopathic Interstitial Pneumonia. Respir Res. 2018; 19(1):82. PMC: 5935977. DOI: 10.1186/s12931-018-0779-y. View

11.

Laughlin S, Schroeder J, Baird D . New directions in the epidemiology of uterine fibroids. Semin Reprod Med. 2010; 28(3):204-17. PMC: 5330647. DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1251477. View

12.

Pavone D, Clemenza S, Sorbi F, Fambrini M, Petraglia F . Epidemiology and Risk Factors of Uterine Fibroids. Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol. 2017; 46:3-11. DOI: 10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2017.09.004. View

13.

Commandeur A, Styer A, Teixeira J . Epidemiological and genetic clues for molecular mechanisms involved in uterine leiomyoma development and growth. Hum Reprod Update. 2015; 21(5):593-615. PMC: 4533663. DOI: 10.1093/humupd/dmv030. View

14.

Lou Z, Huang Y, Li S, Luo Z, Li C, Chu K . Global, regional, and national time trends in incidence, prevalence, years lived with disability for uterine fibroids, 1990-2019: an age-period-cohort analysis for the global burden of disease 2019 study. BMC Public Health. 2023; 23(1):916. PMC: 10199532. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15765-x. View

15.

Carrino D, Mesiano S, Barker N, Hurd W, Caplan A . Proteoglycans of uterine fibroids and keloid scars: similarity in their proteoglycan composition. Biochem J. 2012; 443(2):361-8. DOI: 10.1042/BJ20111996. View

16.

Chang M, Tanino Y, Vidova V, Kinsella M, Chan C, Johnson P . Reprint of: A rapid increase in macrophage-derived versican and hyaluronan in infectious lung disease. Matrix Biol. 2014; 35:162-73. PMC: 4096977. DOI: 10.1016/j.matbio.2014.04.003. View

17.

Leppert P, Catherino W, Segars J . A new hypothesis about the origin of uterine fibroids based on gene expression profiling with microarrays. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2006; 195(2):415-20. PMC: 4143906. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajog.2005.12.059. View

18.

Jamaluddin M, Ko Y, Kumar M, Brown Y, Bajwa P, Nagendra P . Proteomic Profiling of Human Uterine Fibroids Reveals Upregulation of the Extracellular Matrix Protein Periostin. Endocrinology. 2017; 159(2):1106-1118. DOI: 10.1210/en.2017-03018. View

19.

Ishikawa H, Ishi K, Serna V, Kakazu R, Bulun S, Kurita T . Progesterone is essential for maintenance and growth of uterine leiomyoma. Endocrinology. 2010; 151(6):2433-42. PMC: 2875812. DOI: 10.1210/en.2009-1225. View

20.

Gueye N, Mead T, Koch C, Biscotti C, Falcone T, Apte S . Versican Proteolysis by ADAMTS Proteases and Its Influence on Sex Steroid Receptor Expression in Uterine Leiomyoma. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2017; 102(5):1631-1641. PMC: 5443325. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2016-3527. View