Endocrine disrupting chemicals and endometriosis

Abstract

Endometriosis is an estrogen dependent gynecologic disease with lasting implications for many women's fertility, somatic health, and overall quality of life. Growing evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be etiologically involved in the development and severity of disease. We weigh the available human evidence focusing on EDCs and endometriosis, restricting to research that has individually quantified chemical concentrations for women, included a comparison group of unaffected women, and used multivariable analytic techniques. Evidence supporting an environmental etiology for endometriosis includes metals/trace elements, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants, as well as nonpersistent chemicals, such as benzophenones and phthalates. To address the equivocal findings for various EDCs, future research directions for filling data gaps include [1] use of integrated clinical and population sampling frameworks allowing for incorporation of new diagnostic modalities; [2] the collection of various biologic media, including target tissues for quantifying exposures; [3] study designs that offer various comparison groups to assess potentially shared etiologies with other gynecologic disorders; and [4] novel laboratory and statistical approaches that fully explore all measured EDCs for the assessment of mixtures and low dose effects and the use of directed acyclic graphs and supporting causal analysis for empirically delineating relationships between EDCs and endometriosis.

Possible consequences of early exposure to endocrine disruptors

“…Ipak, laboratorijska istraživanja jedini su način da se dobiju rezultati koji bi mogli objasniti ili predvidjeti neke učinke ED-a na ljudskom organizmu, koje su uočene u kliničkoj praksi ili u epidemiološkim istraživanjima, s napomenom da se razlike ispitivanih modela moraju uzeti u obzir. In vitro i in vivo istraživanja usmjerena su na proučavanje utjecaja ED-a na smanjivanje fertilnosti (7), utjecaja na štitnjaču (8), pojavu debljine (9), na progresiju nekih bolesti, primjeri-ce šećerne bolesti (10), endometrioze (11), nekih karcinoma (12) ili imunosnih bolesti (3).…”

Dysfunctional signaling underlying endometriosis: current state of knowledge

“…Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals interferes with the endocrine system, causing cancerous tumors, birth defects and other developmental disorders, resulting in the progression of several human diseases (Mallozzi et al 2017, Ribeiro et al 2017. For example, exposure to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) compounds stimulate endometriosis progression (Smarr et al 2016). To induce endometriosis, TCDD alters patterns of macrophage activation.…”

Self-management and psychological-sexological interventions in patients with endometriosis: strategies, outcomes, and integration into clinical care

“…With regard to endometriosis, experimental research and studies on primates have posed questions on a possible role of these chemicals in the pathogenesis of the disease 87. EDCs could be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis due to their ability in altering hormone synthesis, modulating receptors, or acting as agonists or antagonists 87…”