title: Basic research in endometriosis.
abstract: A more thorough understanding of the mechanisms associated with the cause and pathophysiology of endometriosis may help in the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods for the management of endometriosis. Research has begun to enhance our understanding of endometriosis by demonstrating the differences and similarites between eutopic and ectopic endometrium, and by characterizing the peritoneal environment. Animal models have been developed and validated to conduct studies that are ethically impossible in women. Recently, cell culture models, using purified populations of cells from endometriotic lesions, have provided an appropriate in vitro endometriosis model to study the language by which cells communicate; to evaluate the biochemical effects of steroids, growth factors, pharmacological agents and immunomodulatory agents on the cells; and to study the effects of endometriosis on reproduction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Missouri School of Medicine, Columbia, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Sharpe-Timms
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001202:Ascitic Fluid / Q000166:cytology; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors / Q000502:physiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004715:Endometriosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012106:Research
chemical_list: D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D003115:Colony-Stimulating Factors; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins