Abstract
Endometriosis is a chronic and debilitating disorder affecting up to 5–10% of women
in reproductive age. Investigators have described deficiency in cellular immunity
in women suffering from endometriosis, and in the recent years endometriosis has been
linked to other diseases, allergic disease being one of them. The objective of this
paper is to systematically review the existing literature on the possible association
between endometriosis and allergic disease. This review is based on the recommendations
by the preferred reporting of systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) statement.
PubMed and Embase were searched for studies on women diagnosed with endometriosis
and with manifestations of allergic disease who were compared to a reference group.
Out of 316 articles screened, 6 were reviewed and 5 ultimately met the inclusion criteria.
Four out of the five studies reported a positive correlation between endometriosis
and allergic manifestations, including hay fever, sinus allergic rhinitis, and food
intolerance/sensitivities (food allergy). Investigators reported an odds ratio (OR)
as high as 4.28 (95% CI: 2.93–6.27) for a positive history of allergy among women
suffering from endometriosis. Equivocal results were found on asthma prevalence in
women with endometriosis. Due to the heterogeneity of the included studies, no meta-analyses
could be performed.
The available literature clearly indicates that women with endometriosis are at an
increased risk of allergic disorders compared to controls, but due to the lack of
a concise definition of allergic disease and therefore diagnostic criteria, further
studies are needed in order to draw firm conclusions on the association between endometriosis
and allergic disease.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 26, 2014
Accepted:
April 15,
2014
Received in revised form:
April 9,
2014
Received:
February 27,
2014
Identification
Copyright
© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
