Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0030794 (pelvic pain)
 4,056 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Endometriosis, a chronic gynecologic disease frequently resulting in chronic pelvic pain, severe dysmenorrhoea, and subfertility, is defined as the presence of endometrial tissue at extrauterine locations, most commonly on the peritoneum and ovaries. Conclusive diagnosis requires laparoscopic surgery followed by histological confirmation. The treatment options -at present- are limited to hormonal therapies and/or surgical ablation of the lesions, and are characterized by high recurrence rates, significant side-effects and limited duration of administration. The pathogenesis of endometriosis is still unclear and numerous immunological and inflammatory factors have been suggested to be involved in the development of the disease, including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, tumour necrosis factor -alpha (TNF-alpha), regulated on activation, normal T-Cell expressed and secreted (RANTES) and its receptor cognate chemokine receptor 1 (CCR1), peroxisome proliferator activated receptors (PPARs), matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and cyclooxygenase (COX). Another crucial mechanism in endometriosis is the vascularisation of the endometriotic lesions, with a key role for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Recently, protease activated receptors (PARs), mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and tyrosine kinases have also been associated with the pathophysiology of endometriosis. The aim of this article is to discuss molecules that have recently been found to have connections with the pathogenesis of endometriosis, as potential targets to develop new methods for noninvasive diagnosis and for novel medical management of this disease. This review also critically addresses how these molecules can be tested in basic, preclinical and clinical research, the status of this research and the importance of potential side effects.
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PMID:Non-steroidal targets in the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. 1839 58

Endometriosis (EMS) is the most common gynecological disease in women of reproductive age, and it is associated with chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia and infertility. As a consequence of genetic, immune and environmental factors, endometriotic lesions have high cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 and COX-2-derived prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) biosynthesis compared with the normal endometrium. The transcription of the PTGS2 gene for COX-2 is associated with multiple intracellular signals, which converge to cause the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). COX-2 expression can be regulated by several factors, such as estrogen, hypoxia, proinflammatory cytokines, environmental pollutants, metabolites and metabolic enzymes, and platelets. High concentrations of COX-2 lead to high cell proliferation, a low level of apoptosis, high invasion, angiogenesis, EMS-related pain and infertility. COX-2-derived PGE2 performs a crucial function in EMS development by binding to EP2 and EP4 receptors. These basic findings have contributed to COX-2-targeted treatment in EMS, including COX-2 inhibitors, hormone drugs and glycyrrhizin. In this review, we summarize the most recent basic research in detail and provide a short summary of COX-2-targeted treatment.
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PMID:Cyclooxygenase-2 in Endometriosis. 3185 18