A Cholesterol-Lowering Drug and an Anticancer Drug May Be Alternative Treatments Against Endometriosis

When the researchers analyzed the thickness of endometrial tissue and the volume of the uterus, they saw that these were also more significantly reduced in the rats treated with rosuvastatin compared to those treated with dienogest.

Crestor (rosuvastatin), a cholesterol lowering drug and Avastin (bevacizumab), an anticancer drug are more efficient in reducing endometriosis in rats compared to progesterone medication, according to a study published in the journal Gynecological Endocrinology.

For the study, researchers led by Dr. Cetin Celik at the Department of gynecology and obstetrics at Selcuk University in Konya, Turkey induced endometriosis in rats by surgically implanting endometriotic tissue in their abdomen. They then separated the rats into three groups of 10 animals each.

They treated the animals in the first group with 20 mg/kg of rosuvastatin given by mouth, those in the second group with Dienogest (a progestin, or a synthetic form of the female hormone progesterone used to treat endometriosis) given by mouth, and those in the third group with a single injection of 2.5 mg/kg of bevacizumab into the abdomen every day, for 10 days.

After 10 days of treatment, the researchers observed that rosuvastatin was more useful in stimulating the regression of the endometriotic implants compared to dienogest. There was no statistically significant difference in measured parameters between animals treated with rosuvastatin and those treated with bevacizumab.

When the researchers analyzed the reduction in the thickness of endometrial tissue and the volume of the uterus, they saw that these were also more significant  in the rats treated with rosuvastatin compared to those treated with dienogest.

The authors concluded that rosuvastatin given by mouth and injected bevacizumab may lead to a more significant regression in endometriosis induced by surgery in rats than oral progesterone medications.

“We demonstrated that oral rosuvastatin and bevacizumab might be a new alternative treatment strategy for treating endometriosis,” the researchers wrote. “Thus, verification of our study in humans in future studies is needed”.

Please note that these are preclinical results obtained in a laboratory animal and neither drug is currently approved for the treatment of endometriosis in humans.