Hot research in endometriosis; new vessel formation: angiogenesis

Both biomarkers and drugs hampering angiogenesis need clinical trials.

Key Points

Highlights

• It is a well-known fact that ectopic endometria needs nutrient support via new vessel formations.
• This pathophysiological aspect of endometriosis may yield important aspects related to its management.

Importance:

• The role of serological markers for new vessel formations and anti‑angiogenic therapy for the management of endometriosis are rapidly developing research frontiers.

What's done here:

• This is a comprehensive review of the various contemporary aspects of new vessel formation in endometriotic foci.
• The article also discusses the utility of anti‑angiogenic therapy for the management of endometriosis.

Main key feature :

• Though there are novel discoveries related to non-invasive biomarkers and anti-angiogenic drugs we need satisfactory clinical trials.

Lay Summary

Caixia Bo and Yunfei Wang from Jining Medical University, China have recently published their comprehensive review on angiogenesis-related aspects of endometriotic tissues in a recent issue of journal named Molecular Medicine Reports.

The main potential pathogenetic aspects of endometriosis include retrograde menstruation, uterine stem cells, and somatic epithelia. Whichever theory is operative, ectopic endometria needs nutrient support via new vessel formations, i.e., angiogenesis is the key factor for the viability of these ectopic islands.

The authors have made literature search for manuscripts having the key words ‘endometriosis’, ‘endometriotic lesions’, ‘angiogenesis’, ‘vascularization’, ‘anti‑angiogenic’, ‘anti‑angiogenesis’, ‘anti‑angiogenic therapy’ and ‘diagnosis’; this review cites 135 related papers.

Angiopoietin, interleukin, fibroblast growth factor, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, vascular endothelial growth factor, cyclooxygenase 2, and tumor necrosis factor-α are all among the list of molecules taking role in new vessel formation.

It is intriguing that with the new horizons in miRNA research, diagnostic value of miRNAs has been further confirmed in the clinical setting of endometriosis where some miRNAs are found to be in excess. It is also noteworthy that novel targets for angiogenesis therapy are also being discovered and developed in the management of endometriosis.

The authors conclude that further research is needed to clarify the interactions of the angiogenic microenvironment in order to find out the most effective targets related to the therapy.

No clinical trials are evaluating therapeutic values of angiogenetic biomarkers and anti‑vascular molecules yet. Most of the pharmacological research results are still in vitro and experimental; with some being at the stage of clinical experiments.

Research Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38240108/