Blood and FF collection and biochemical measurements
ENDOMETRIOSIS
Sample collections were carried out following the guidelines suggested by the World Endometriosis Research Foundation (OS markers and cytokines were measured in duplicate, in a blinded manner, in pairs (pre/post-intervention) simultaneously, and in the same analytical run to reduce systematic error and inter-assay variations. Measurements of serum and FF levels of OS markers were performed using the human enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Zellbio, GmbH, Germany), according to the manufacturer’s instructions. The kit sensitivity was 0.5 U/mL for CAT, 1 U/mL for SOD, 0.1 µM for MDA, and 0.1 mM for TAC detection. A microplate reader (BioTek, Winooski, USA) was used to measure absorbance at wavelengths specific to each marker. Pro-inflammatory cytokine concentrations were determined in serum and FF by high sensitivity human ELISA system using commercially available human kits (Karmania Pars Gene company; KPG, Iran), following the manufacturer’s instruction. The kit sensitivity was 2 pg/mL, and the absorbance was measured at 420 nm 