Methods for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis

Abstract

The present invention relates to methods of detecting CD200L in a female subject from a secretory phase biological sample. Increased levels of CD200L have been determined to be associated with endometriosis. CD200L is therefore a useful biomarker for the diagnosis of endometriosis and a useful target for therapeutic intervention.

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         8 . A method of monitoring a mammal following treatment of endometriosis comprising:
 i) detecting the level of secretory phase CD200L in a biological sample from the mammal using a method which does not detect CD20S;   ii) comparing the CD200L level to a pre-treatment CD200L control level; and   iii) determining that the mammal is responding to treatment when the CD200L level is reduced in comparison to the control level.   
     
     
         9 . A kit for use in a method as defined in  claim 5  comprising a CD200L-specific reactant and optionally instructions for use in the method. 
     
     
         10 . The kit of  claim 9 , wherein the CD200L-specific reactant is an antibody that targets amino acids encoded by exon  2 , or one or more nucleotide primers that bind to exon  2 . 
     
     
         11 . The kit of  claim 10 , wherein the reactant is associated with an indicator that yields a detectable signal when the reactants bind to CD200L. 
     
     
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         17 . A method of diagnosing endometriosis in a female subject, the method comprising:
 a) detecting the level of CD200L in a secretory phase biological sample from the subject using a method which does not detect CD200S;   b) detecting the level of CD200S in the biological sample;   b) comparing the level of CD200L in the biological sample with the level of CD200S; and   c) diagnosing the subject with endometriosis when the level of CD200L in the biological sample is higher than the level of CD200S in the sample.   
     
     
         18 . A method of identifying risk of infertility in a female mammal comprising the steps of:
 a) detecting the level of CD200R1 and CD200R2 in a biological sample from the mammal;   b) comparing the level of CD200R1 to CD200R2 in the biological sample; and   c) identifying that the mammal is at risk of infertility when the level of CD200R2 is higher than the level of CD200R1 in the biological sample.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the biological sample is a proliferative; secretory or menstrual phase sample. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the biological sample is a secretory phase sample.