Scientists replicate cause and symptoms of human womb condition

Endometriosis is a condition where the tissue that lines the womb (endometrium) is found outside the womb, such as in the ovaries and fallopian tube. It is a complex disorder that affects ~10% of women of reproductive age, and takes up to 7 years to diagnose.

Women with endometriosis experience pain and/or infertility, and because current therapies often involve invasive surgery or medicines that have unacceptable side effects, the hunt is on to find new and innovative fertility-sparing medical treatments.

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The condition is believed to be caused by 'retrograde menstruation', whereby menstrual tissue (period blood and shed womb tissue) escapes the womb via the oviducts and attaches to organs in the body cavity forming ‘lesions’. These lesions establish their own blood and nervous supply and attract immune cells which contribute to the increased pain sensitivity associated with the disease.

There has been little progress in finding a cure for endometriosis, and the development of new drugs targeting the chronic pain has been slow due both to the complexity of the condition and the challenges in developing suitable animal models. Very few animal species exhibit overt menstruation, and from those that do, only a few primate species develop endometriosis spontaneously whilst in others, such as the baboon, induction of lesions was only reliably reported after surgical induction. 

To overcome these limitations, immune-suppressed mice have been used to support studies using human womb fragments to induce endometriosis-like ‘lesions’. As an alternative approach, non-menstruating animals can be made to menstruate artificially and endometriosis can be induced.

The research group has developed such a model of endometriosis that uses ‘donor’ mice that are made to menstruate by administration of hormones and the menstrual tissue is then injected into ‘recipient’ mice which develop lesions resembling those in women.

The use of animal models in endometriosis research can accelerate the hunt for new treatments and deepen our understanding of the mechanisms responsible for the initiation and progression of the disease. However, care needs to be taken with interpretation of findings because not every model can answer all questions and a combination of several models may be key to discovering a cure for endometriosis.    

Links:

Published article – Journal of Best Practice & Research Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (external website)

Endometriosis UK (external website)

Dr Ioannis Simitsidellis – Research Profile 

Dr Douglas Gibson – Research Profile

Prof Philippa Saunders – Research Profile