The Main Theories on the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis

Jelizaveta Lamceva, Romans Uljanovs, Ilze Strumfa (Corresponding Author)

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

89 Citations (Scopus)
51 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Endometriosis is a complex disease, which is defined by abnormal growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. It affects about 10% of women of reproductive age all over the world. Endometriosis causes symptoms that notably worsen patient’s well-being—such as severe pelvic pain, dysfunction of the organs of pelvic cavity, infertility and secondary mental issues. The diagnosis of endometriosis is quite often delayed because of nonspecific manifestations. Since the disease was defined, several different pathogenetic pathways have been considered, including retrograde menstruation, benign metastasis, immune dysregulation, coelomic metaplasia, hormonal disbalance, involvement of stem cells and alterations in epigenetic regulation, but the true pathogenesis of endometriosis remains poorly understood. The knowledge of the exact mechanism of the origin and progression of this disease is significant for the appropriate treatment. Therefore, this review reports the main pathogenetic theories of endometriosis based on current studies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4254
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences
Volume24
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21 Feb 2023

Keywords*

  • carcinogenesis
  • endometriosis
  • epigenetics
  • immune regulation
  • metaplasia
  • oestrogen
  • pathogenesis
  • progesterone
  • stem cells

Field of Science*

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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