Hypothesis: menstruation is a steroid-regulated, cyclic, autoimmune process.
There is presented an hypothesis that menstruation occurs when estrogen or progesterone withdrawal permits a previously hormone-blocked interaction between an endometrial autoantigen and its specific autoantibody, thereby inducing the characteristic necrosis and sloughing of the endometrium. Experimental and clinical studies are outlined to test this hypothesis.
D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008598:Menstruation; D013256:Steroids / Q000502:physiology*
D001323:Autoantibodies; D013256:Steroids