Pesticides Linked to Endometriosis Risk

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR

Why some women and not others get endometriosis — the growth of uterine tissue outside the uterus that can cause pain and infertility — is not known, but researchers have come up with one possible contributing factor: pesticide poisoning.

Scientists studied 248 women with surgically confirmed endometriosis and 538 healthy controls. They measured blood levels of two pesticides, mirex and beta HCH, which persist in some fish and dairy products even though their use in the United States has been banned for decades. The studyappears online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Read more: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/pesticides-linked-to-endometriosis/?_r=0

The Role of DJ-1 in the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis

Some light reading...

PLoS One. 2011; 6(3): e18074.

Published online 2011 March 21. doi:  10.1371/journal.pone.0018074

PMCID: PMC3061880

The Role of DJ-1 in the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis

Priyanka Rai and Sisinthy Shivaji*

Jean-Marc Vanacker, Editor

Author information ► Article notes ► Copyright and License information ►

Abstract

Background

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease causing pelvic pain and infertility in 10% of reproductive-aged women. Despite a long history of the disease the pathogenesis of endometriosis is poorly understood. It is known that the expression of several proteins is either up or down regulated during endometriosis, but their precise role remains to be determined. DJ-1 is one such protein that is upregulated in eutopic endometrium of women having endometriosis suggesting that DJ-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of endometriosis

Link to the rest: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061880/

Thanks to U.S. National Library of Medicine

Protagen Collaborates in Endometriosis Biomarker Project

Protagen Collaborates in Endometriosis Biomarker Project
Protagen AG
Protagen AG, a specialist for in-vitro diagnostics, has announced that it is to collaborate with Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals on the clinical validation of Endometriosis biomarkers. The project will build on the results of the Endometriosis biomarker discovery study performed last year.

Endometriosis is a gynaecological condition which occurs in roughly 5-10% of women worldwide. It occurs when uterine cells grow outside of the uterine cavity, often on the ovaries. The debilitating condition can cause recurrent pelvic pain of varying severity, constipation, fatigue and infertility issues in sufferers.

Protagen has successfully developed the proprietary UNIarray® technology platform for the development of novel, non-invasive diagnostic tests based on auto-antibody signatures in human blood.

The ‘gold standard’ diagnostic test for endometriosis is currently laparoscopy, a visual inspection of the abdominal organs followed by surgical removal and examination of lesions. The collaborative project to be undertaken by Protagen AG and Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceutical, is aimed at employing the UNIarray® technology for the predictive diagnosis of Endometriosis.

“With the targeted advancement of the UNIarray® technology platform, Protagen has developed into a preferred partner for drug development companies”, states Dr. Peter Schulz-Knappe, CSO and Executive Vice President Diagnostics at Protagen, “now we can directly support our collaboration partners in pharma and biotech in all clinical Phases I-IV with the development of therapy specific diagnostic assays. Besides Endometriosis, our technology is applied in autoimmune diseases like Multiple Sclerosis, chronic inflammatory diseases and cancer. Cooperation partners are, amongst others, Bayer, Biogen-Idec und SuppreMol”.

In order to understand the biochemical and molecular biological processes of Endometriosis, new technologies like UNIarray® are becoming increasingly important. Improving the predictive diagnosis of Endometriosis should help to improve patient’s quality of life.