Endometriosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Endometriosis, including details on causes, treatment, symptoms, infertility.

Oxidative stress and endometriosis.

Jackson LW, Schisterman EF, Dey-Rao R, Browne R, Armstrong D

Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Rockville, MD 20852, USA. jacksole@mail.nih.gov

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the aetiology of endometriosis; however, in the presence of oxidative stress, reactive oxygen species might increase growth and adhesion of endometrial cells in the peritoneal cavity, leading to endometriosis and infertility. Within a study investigating persistent organic compounds and endometriosis, the authors evaluated the association between oxidative stress and endometriosis. METHODS: Women aged 18-40 years who were undergoing laparoscopy were contacted to participate in the study (n = 100); 84 were eligible and agreed to be interviewed; 78 provided blood specimens. Four markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant status were measured in serum for 61 women. Multiple imputation of missing data was used to generate values for the missing oxidative stress data. RESULTS: Thirty-two women had visually confirmed endometriosis at laparoscopy while 52 did not, including 22 undergoing tubal ligation and 30 with idiopathic infertility. There was a weak association between thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (nmol/ml) and endometriosis, after adjusting for age, body mass index, current smoking, hormone use in the past 12 months, gravidity, serum vitamin E, serum estradiol, and total serum lipids (beta = 1.18; 95% CI-0.04, 2.39). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that oxidative stress might play a role in the development and progression of endometriosis, which should be evaluated in larger studies.

Published 16 June 2005 in Hum Reprod, 20(7): 2014-20.
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