Detection of spectroscopic changes in the cervical swabs of patients diagnosed with endometrioma

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate whether the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) findings in cervical swab samples from women with endometrioma differ from healthy controls. Material and Methods: 52 patients who were followed up with the diagnosis of endometrioma and 52 healthy women who did not have a gynecological complaint or diagnosed gynecological disease and applied to the outpatient clinic for routine cervical swab screening were included in the study. After taking the Pap smear from the participants with a cytobrush, swab samples were taken with a cotton swab. The FTIR spectra of the samples were recorded in the range of 4000-600 cm-1 with the attenuated total reflectance method. Results: Sample spectra obtained from the analysis were visually examined morphologically, and samples with similar spectra in terms of wave patterns were selected for statistical analysis. Specimen spectra of 24 participants from the endometrioma group and 20 participants from the control group were included in the statistical analysis. The mean values of the peak reflecting the carbon dioxide molecule at 2350 cm-1 and the areas below the peak reflecting the oligosaccharide and polysaccharide content at 1050 cm-1 were found to be statistically significantly higher in the endometriosis group than in the healthy control group (respectively, U= 151.0, P < 0.05 and U=154.0, P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the groups below the peak in wave numbers reflecting lipid, fatty acid, protein, nucleic acid, phosphorylated protein, and phospholipid components. Conclusion: It can be thought that FTIR spectroscopy of cervical swab samples can provide information about the molecular changes caused by endometrioma. For the use of FTIR spectroscopy in the diagnosis, there is a need for more scientific data and studies involving surgically diagnosed endometrioma cases in a larger sample and adding advanced chemometric analyzes to the process.