BACKGROUND We have recently shown that women with endometriosis express an increased amount of telomerase and nucleolin, with concomitant loss of γ-H2AX in eutopic endometrium. To further examine these selected factors that regulate cell fate, in the pathogenesis of endometriosis, we studied the expression of telomerase, nucleolin, proliferating cell nuclear antigen and γ-H2AX in ectopic endome...

Endometriosis, one of the most prevalent gynaecological disorders, may affect fertility. Extensive research has been done in an attempt to understand the pathogenesis of endometriosis and its association with reproductive failure. It has been suggested that the disease affects almost any step of reproduction, but data are mostly controversial so it is difficult to draw clear conclusions from st...

STUDY QUESTION Is there any occurrence of hidden (occult) endometriotic lesions in normal peritoneum of women with and without visible endometriosis? SUMMARY ANSWER We detected a slightly higher occurrence of occult microscopic endometriosis (OME) in normal peritoneum of women with visible endometriosis than in control women. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Based on a small number of cases, the conce...

Accessible online at: www.karger.com/goi In this issue of Gynecologic and Obstetric Investigation, the review of David Redwine clearly shows that invisible microscopic endometriosis, if well defined and well examined, is very rare [1]. Similar findings have been found in baboons [2], primates with spontaneous endometriosis that represent the best nonhuman primate model to study the pathogenesis...

Accumulating data have shown the involvement of microRNAs (miRNAs) in endometriosis pathogenesis. In this study, we used a novel approach to determine the endometriotic lesion-specific miRNAs by high-throughput small RNA sequencing of paired samples of peritoneal endometriotic lesions and matched healthy surrounding tissues together with eutopic endometria of the same patients. We found five mi...

OBJECTIVE To further investigate peritoneal iron disruption in endometriosis by studying iron storage in peritoneal macrophages of patients with endometriosis compared with controls. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SETTING Academic gynecology research unit in a university hospital. PATIENT(S) Fifty patients undergoing laparoscopy. INTERVENTION(S) Collection of peritoneal fluid samples (N ...

Foxp3+ regulatory T (Treg) cells contribute to the local dysfunctional immune environment in endometriosis, an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease, which affects the function of ectopic endometrial tissue clearance by the immune system. The reason for the high percentage of peritoneal Treg in endometriosis patients is unknown. Here, we show that the proportion of peritoneal Treg cells incr...

It has been assumed that endometriosis is a progressive disease, with growth and development of lesions being inevitable once the disease has started. The implantation and the metaplasia theories describe the mechanism of initiation of endometriotic lesions, but do not explain the different clinical manifestations of endometriosis. To explain the variable expression, growth and development of l...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE One of the diagnostic markers of endometriosis is CA-125, and elevated levels of this are caused by high concentrations in the ectopic endometrium. The objective of this study was to correlate CA-125 levels in serum and peritoneal fluid from women with and without pelvic endometriosis. DESIGN AND SETTING This was a prospective, cross-sectional, controlled study of consec...