A French company has developed a saliva test to detect endometriosis that is 95% reliable, and which could be offered in France by the end of the year.
- A saliva test for endometriosis has been validated as a diagnostic tool by a study published in the NEJM scientific journal Evidence.
- The results showed that it had a sensitivity and specificity greater than 95%.
- The French company that developed it is working with health authorities to make the test available in France before the end of 2023.
Women who suffer from endometriosis often know it all too well: the journey to put a name to this gynecological disease can be long and complex. But that could soon change… a saliva test for the diagnosis of endometriosis could arrive in France before the end of the year.
A 95% reliable saliva test for endometriosis
The French company Ziwig has revealed that its saliva test has been validated as a diagnostic tool for endometriosis by a study published in the scientific journal of the NEJM Evidence on June 9, 2023. It presents “a sensitivity and specificity greater than 95%”, which makes it an interesting reliable and non-invasive test. Patients who use it can obtain a diagnosis of the disease in just seven days from a simple saliva sample.
Already presented in a previous article in Why Doctor, this test is based on the combination of two cutting-edge technologies: high-throughput sequencing and artificial intelligence. It makes it possible to identify the micro-RNAs (miRNAs) responsible for endometriotic lesions.
“Micro-RNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs: unlike messenger RNAs (mRNAs, today used in several anti-COVID vaccines), they are not translated into proteins by the cellular machinery”specified work published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine in February 2022.
Endometriosis: the test available on French soil before the end of the year
Currently used in several countries, including Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany and Saudi Arabia, this test could be available in France very soon. The company is working with the French health authorities to make its tool available to patients and healthcare professionals in France before the end of 2023.
“Early diagnosis of endometriosis makes it possible to identify this cause of infertility and to quickly adapt treatment”emphasizes Professor Samir Hamamah, author of the first report on the causes of infertility, head of the Reproductive Biology Service at Montpellier University Hospital, in a release from the company that friends developed this new test.
