During the past decade, macrophage-derived substances such as prostanoids, cytokines, growth factors and angiogenic factors have been detected in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis. In particular, growth-promoting and angiogenic factors are considered to be substantially involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. In this study, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transf...

Endometriosis, a leading cause of pelvic pain and infertility, is characterized by ectopic growth of endometrial-like tissue and affects approximately 176 million women worldwide. The pathophysiology involves inflammatory and angiogenic mediators as well as estrogen-mediated signaling and novel, improved therapeutics targeting these pathways are necessary. The aim of this study was to investiga...

Endometriosis is a common, chronic inflammatory disease defined by the presence of extrauterine endometrial tissue. The aetiology of endometriosis is complex and multifactorial, where several not fully confirmed theories describe its pathogenesis. This review examines existing theories on the initiation and propagation of different types of endometriotic lesions, as well as critically appraises...

Deep infiltrating endometriosis of rectovaginal septum is a particular form of endometriosis located under the peritoneal surface. This kind of lesions are very active and strongly associated with pelvic pain symptoms. A study on 62 cases of rectovaginal septum endometriosis by means of immunohistochemistry was conducted in order to evaluate the oestrogen and progesterone receptor levels in the...

A comprehensive review was performed to survey the role of angiogenesis in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. This is a multifactorial disease in which the development and maintenance of endometriotic implants depend on their invasive capacity and angiogenic potential. The peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis is a complex suspension carrying inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, st...

To test the hypothesis that bacterial contamination of menstrual blood could be a local biologic event in the development of endometriosis, menstrual blood was cultured and bacterial endotoxin was measured in menstrual blood and peritoneal fluid. Our results suggest that compared with control women, higher colony formation of Escherichia coli in menstrual blood and endotoxin levels in menstrual...

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease. We previously found that the expression of Activin A was upregulated in the peritoneal fluid of patients with endometriosis. The results of the present study indicated that Activin A induced estradiol secretion and P450arom expression in endometrial stromal cells (ESCs) derived from endometriosis patients. The mechanism of estrogenic synthesis was...

STUDY HYPOTHESIS Selective activation or blockade of the prostaglandin (PG) F2α receptor (FP receptor) affects ectopic endometrial tissue growth and endometriosis development. STUDY FINDING FP receptor antagonists might represent a promising approach for the treatment of peritoneal endometriosis. WHAT IS KNOW ALREADY Eutopic and ectopic endometrium from women with endometriosis exhibit high...

BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) play an essential role in tissue remodelling and menstruation and appear to be regulated by cytokines such as interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha). In order to investigate their role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis, the aim of the present study was to compare the protein localization of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) and of its main stimulatory cyto...

Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) expressed mainly by primary sensory neurons function as major nociceptive integrators. They are also present on the rat endometrium in an oestrogen-regulated manner. TRPV1 is upregulated in peritoneal and ovarian endometriosis patients, but there is no information about TRPA1 and their pathophysi...