Endostatin
is a promising non-toxic endometriosis treatment
Antiangiogenic therapy with endostatin
may present a promising novel, non-toxic therapeutic
option for patients with endometriosis.
Researchers at the Department of Surgery, Children's
Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, have
shown that an anti-angiogenic protein hinders the development
of endometriosis in mice without any apparent negative
effects on fertility or reproduction.
As the acquisition of new blood vessels is essential
for the endometriosis development, inhibition of angiogenesis
has become an attractive therapeutic target. But the
researchers point out that the fact angiogenesis is
involved in many reproductive processes, including ovulation
and implantation, poses a challenge to this treatment
approach.
In the present study, the team, led by Christian Becker
from Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, assessed
the effects of the endogenous antiangiogenic protein
endostatin on both endometriosis and fertility in mice
that have had endometriosis surgically induced.
Endostatin suppressed the growth of endometriotic lesions
by 47 percent without affecting the oestrous cycle or
formation of the corpus luteum, compared with controls.
Female mice given endostatin were as fertile as those
that received a vehicle-matched control, and delivered
the same number of pups. In turn, their offspring were
healthy and reproduced normally themselves.
"Taken together, these results demonstrate a potent
new therapeutic approach that may avoid the typical
side effects of current drugs used to treat endometriosis,"
the researchers conclude.
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