{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,10]],"date-time":"2026-05-10T05:08:25Z","timestamp":1778389705285,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1777248000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease in which transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-\u03b2) has been implicated in immune dysregulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, and fibrosis. Data on baseline secretion of TGF-\u03b2 isoforms by systemic immune cells remain limited. This pilot study quantified unstimulated secretion of TGF-\u03b21, TGF-\u03b22, and TGF-\u03b23 by peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) cultures from women with and without endometriosis and explored stage-related patterns. In this prospective case\u2013control study, PBMCs from 50 women with surgically confirmed endometriosis and 30 controls were cultured for 24 h without exogenous stimulation. Supernatant concentrations were measured using a multiplex bead-based immunoassay (Bio-Plex, Bio-Rad) and expressed as pg\/mL; between-group and stage-related differences were assessed using non-parametric tests. Median 24 h secretion was similar between groups (TGF-\u03b21: 103,816 vs. 114,700 pg\/mL, p = 0.25; TGF-\u03b22: 3735 vs. 3732 pg\/mL, p = 0.32; TGF-\u03b23: 3280 vs. 3284 pg\/mL, p = 0.70). Within the endometriosis cohort, TGF-\u03b22 was significantly higher in moderate\/advanced disease (rASRM stages III\u2013IV) than in minimal\/mild disease (stages I\u2013II), whereas TGF-\u03b21 and TGF-\u03b23 did not reach statistical significance for a stage-dependent pattern in this pilot cohort (p = 0.42 and p = 0.41, respectively; Kruskal\u2013Wallis), and a type II error cannot be excluded given the small sample size per rASRM (revised American Society of Reproductive Medicine)stage (n = 11\u201314). These findings suggest that TGF-\u03b2 dysregulation is compartmentalized to the peritoneal environment rather than systemically imprinted in circulating immune cells. The stage-dependent elevation of TGF-\u03b22 supports its role in progressive fibrogenesis and as a candidate severity biomarker, warranting confirmation in larger, stimulus-augmented studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms27093898","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,28]],"date-time":"2026-04-28T11:33:37Z","timestamp":1777376017000},"page":"3898","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Stage-Related Changes in TGF-\u03b2 Isoforms in PBMC Culture Supernatants in Endometriosis: A Prospective Case\u2013Control Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"27","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1668-1694","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marcin","family":"Sadlocha","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecologic Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jakub L.","family":"Toczek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecologic Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0740-7167","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jakub","family":"Staniczek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecologic Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8216-4495","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zenon","family":"Czuba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5141-1016","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafal","family":"Stojko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Gynecologic Oncology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, 40-055 Katowice, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sad\u0142ocha, M., Toczek, J., Major, K., Staniczek, J., and Stojko, R. 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Methods"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Molecular Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1422-0067\/27\/9\/3898\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,10]],"date-time":"2026-05-10T04:10:49Z","timestamp":1778386249000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1422-0067\/27\/9\/3898"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]},"references-count":36,"journal-issue":{"issue":"9","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["ijms27093898"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijms27093898","relation":{},"ISSN":["1422-0067"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1422-0067","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]]}}}