Kasthuri Nair
Kasthuri is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Molecular and Cellular Biology at Johns Hopkins University. She has a passion for medical writing that was first ignited in 2015 and hopes to pursue a career in medical journalism.
Autophagy, proteolysis and Endometriosis
Sui et al., a group of researchers from the Qiqihar Medical University and Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, recently published in Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine. The piece titled “Expression and significance of autophagy genes LC3, Beclin1 and MMP-2 in endometriosis” analyzed the expression levels of two autophagy-related proteins, microtubule-associated protein light chain 3 (LC3) and Beclin1, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in women with and without endometriosis. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)", is a collagenase with the capacity to exert enzymolysis and proteolysis,…
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BRAF: A Key Suspect in the Endometriosis Mystery
LV et al., a group of researchers from China, recently published a study titled “Analysis of the oncogene BRAF mutation and the correlation of the expression of wild-type BRAF and CREB1 in endometriosis” in the International Journal of Molecular Medicine. The study hopes to understand the role of B-Raf proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase (BRAF) molecular mechanisms play in the initiation and promotion of endometriosis. The experimental group consisted of 30 women with endometriosis from whom eutopic and ectopic (endometriotic) tissue was collected.…
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Molecular Susceptibility to Endometriosis
Fayez et al., a group of researchers from various institutions in Iran, recently published a paper in the Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology titled “Arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 Polymorphisms and the Risk of Endometriosis.” This study focused on the relationship between the human arylamine N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) gene polymorphisms and the risk of endometriosis. The participants of the study included 141 Iranian women who have endometriosis and 158 Iranian women without endometriosis who were age-matched to the experimental group. All participants…
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A Tool That Goes Where No One Has Gone Before
Vitral et al., researchers from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, recently published a paper in the World Journal of Nuclear Medicine titled “Use of radioguided surgery in abdominal wall endometriosis: An innovative approach.” The publication focused on a case report where doctors utilized a preoperative marking technique with a radioisotope, namely Radioguided Occult Lesion Localization (ROLL™), in order to find and treat an abdominal endometriotic lesion. The patient was a 43-year-old female who has a history of pelvic…
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GnRH Analogues Not Beneficial For Superovulation and Intrauterine Insemination
Bansal et al, a group of authors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, recently published a paper titled “The Role of GnRH Analogues in Improving Outcome in Women Undergoing Superovulation and Intrauterine Insemination after Surgical Correction of Mild Endometriosis: A Randomized Controlled Trial” in The Eurasian Journal of Medicine. The paper wanted to look at the effects of gonadotropin-releasing hormone analog (GnRHa) therapy in women with surgically treated endometriosis who undergo superovulation (SO) and intrauterine insemination (IUI) for…
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CARD10 and CARD11 Mutations: Another Piece of the Puzzle
Zou et al., a research group from China, recently published a study titled “Analysis of CARD10 and CARD11 somatic mutations in patients with ovarian endometriosis” in Oncology Letters. The paper looked at the effects of caspase recruitment domain family member (CARD)10 and CARD11 mutations on endometriosis disease progression. The researchers collected endometriotic lesions and paired peripheral blood from all the participants, who were female patients with ovarian endometriosis. Genomic DNA was isolated from the samples and the DNA was then…
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Adrenomedullin: The Pervasive Peptide
Dr. Aboulghar, from the Cairo University, recently penned an article titled “Role of adrenomedullin in reproduction and endometriosis” that was published in Fertility and Sterility. This article looks at the function of Adrenomedullin (AM) in pregnancy and endometriosis and it discusses AM’s use as a diagnostic tool. The first section focuses on some key characteristics of the peptide. This includes its function in biological systems and its physiologic functions. The author also makes note of the locations at which AM…
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Polymorphism of IL12B May Help Solve Endometriosis
Zhao et al. recently published a paper titled “A functional promoter polymorphism in interleukin 12B gene is associated with an increased risk of ovarian endometriosis” in Gene. The research group from Hebei Medical University wanted to explore the potential roles played by the polymorphisms rs17860508 CTCTAA/GC and rs3212227A/C, functional genetic variants of the interleukin 12beta gene (IL12beta), in the development of ovarian endometriosis. The case-control study consisted of two participant groups: one group of women with ovarian endometriosis and another…
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A Doctor's Guide to Making Endometriosis Less Scary
Canis, Bourdel, and Chauvet, doctors from CHU Estaing, recently published an article titled “Endometriosis: frightening the patients is not an acceptable alternative to inadequate surgical management and or pathophysiology ignorance” in Fertility and Sterility. Their paper delineated proper health practices that will alleviate or avoid unnecessary stress on patients suffering from endometriosis. The authors discuss surgery as a possible option for endometriosis care. They caution against improper pre- and post-surgical discussions that can cause undue stress on the patient. These…
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Alternative Solutions: Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation for Endometriosis Pain
Bi and Xie, researchers from The Yan’an People’s Hospital, recently published the results of their retrospective study titled “Effect of neuromuscular electrical stimulation for endometriosis-associated pain” in Medicine. The study hoped to elucidate the effects of using a complementary and alternative medicine, namely neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), for the treatment of endometriosis-associated pain (EAP). There were 83 patients with EAP in the treatment group and these participants underwent NMES therapy. There were 71 patients with EAP in the control group…
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Key to Understanding Ovarian Endometriosis may lay in the Peptides
Xue et al. recently published a paper titled “Peptidomic Analysis of Endometrial Tissue from Patients with Ovarian Endometriosis” in Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. The research group from various departments of Nanjing Medical University wished to better understand the pathogenesis of Ovarian endometriosis (OvE). The researchers collected ectopic and eutopic endometria tissue samples from 3 women with OvE, identified and quantified the peptides, and then they investigated the functions of various peptide protein precursors using bioinformatics assays. They also obtained, cultured,…
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Effectiveness of the Endometriosis Symptom Diary
Seitz et al., a research group from Bayer AG and the University of Giessen, recently published an article titled “Patterns of missing data in the use of the endometriosis symptom diary” in BMC Women's Health. The authors were analyzing data from the VALEPRO study. The study used an electronic patient-reported outcome (ePRO) instrument called the Endometriosis Symptom Diary (ESD). The researchers from this study looked for patterns of missing data and wanted to elucidate the factors that led to the…
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Fallopian Tube Capability in Women with Pelvic Endometriosis and Adenomyosis
Xia et al. recently published a paper titled “Effects of pelvic endometriosis and adenomyosis on the ciliary beat frequency and muscular contractions in the human fallopian tube” in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. This research group primarily from Shanghai Jiaotong University conducted a study that assessed the fallopian tube transport capacity in women who suffer from Pelvic endometriosis (EM) and adenomyosis (AM). Transport capability of the Fallopian tube was to be measured using ciliary beat frequency (CBF) and tubal smooth muscle…
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Catching Endometriosis Early
Li et al., a group primarily from Sun Yat-sen University in the People’s Republic of China, recently published an article titled “Endometrium metabolomic profiling reveals potential biomarkers for diagnosis of endometriosis at minimal-mild stages” in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. The paper addresses the lack of an optimal diagnostic tool for individuals with minimal-mild stage endometriosis. The researchers used ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography alongside electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry (UHPLC-ESI-HRMS) in order to discover differences in the eutopic endometrium metabolomic profile in…
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Potential Study: Can Omega-3 purified Fatty Acids Treat Endometriosis Pain?
Abokhrais et al. published a paper titled “A pilot randomized double-blind controlled trial of the efficacy of purified fatty acids for the treatment of women with endometriosis-associated pain (PurFECT): study protocol” in Pilot and Feasibility Studies. The aforementioned authors are primarily from the University of Edinburgh. Their article delineates a procedure that could be potentially be used to test the effectiveness of Omega-3 purified fatty acids (PUFA) for the purpose of addressing endometriosis pain. The study discussed in this article…
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Difficulties Associated with Diagnosing Ascites and Encapsulating Peritonitis in Endometriosis
De Magalhães et al. recently published a paper titled “Ascites and Encapsulating Peritonitis in Endometriosis: a Systematic Review with a Case Report” in Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. The team from the Universidade Federal do Ceará and the Universidade de Fortaleza wanted to increase awareness of a unique presentation of endometriosis, namely overt ascites and peritonitis. Over the course of the article, the authors discuss their systematic review and delineate a case seen at the author’s institution. For the…
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Abnormal Regulation of Pathways Seen in Endometriosis
Sikora et al., a team from the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice, published a study in the Archives of Gynecology and Obstetrics titled “The role of complement components C1q, MBL and C1 inhibitor in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.” It has been said that complement system disorders and endometriosis disease progression may be linked. The paper focused on the complement system components C1q, mannose-binding lectin (MBL), and C1 inhibitor (C1INH) in order to affirm or reject the previous statement. In endometriosis, one of the most important…
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Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis Impairs Sexual Function
Lima et al., a group of scientists from Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual in Brazil, recently published an article entitled “Female Sexual Function in Women with Suspected Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis” in Revista Brasileira De Ginecologia E Obstetricia. The paper analyzed sexual function quality in females suffering from suspected deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE). The researchers recruited 67 sexually active female patients with suspected or diagnosed DIE. The researchers collected certain key pieces of information from each of the participants. The participant’s…
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Is the Endometriosis Fertility Index Reliable?
Zhang et al. recently published a paper titled “Prediction of Endometriosis Fertility Index in patients with endometriosis-associated infertility after laparoscopic treatment” in Reproductive BioMedicine Online. The research group from the West China Second University Hospital in Sichuan University wanted to analyze the Endometriosis Fertility Index (EFI) and its predictive value. The main function of the EFI is to predict spontaneous conception after surgery. The researchers recruited women with endometriosis-related infertility who were undergoing laparoscopic treatment. These women underwent surgery and…
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Extending the Female Fertility Clock
Varela, Sanchez-de-Puerta, and Garcia-Velasco are a group of scientists from various institutions in Spain and they recently published a review article titled “Fertility, IVF and reproductive genetics” in Current Opinion in Obstetrics and Gynecology. In this publication, the authors discussed recent research pertaining to the impact telomere biology had on ovarian aging and female fertility. More specifically, the authors looked at telomere shortening, the wearing down of the telomere, and telomere dysfunction. The researchers dedicated a section of the article…
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