A Transcriptomics-Based Computational Drug Repositioning Pipeline Identifies Simvastatin And Primaquine As Novel Therapeutics For Endometriosis Pain
Endometriosis is a disease with limited medical treatment options and a strong need for new therapeutic strategies. We previously applied a transcriptomics-based computational drug repositioning pipeline to publicly available bulk transcriptomic data to identify potential therapeutics for endometriosis. The drug candidates identified in silico includes fenoprofen, primaquine, and simvastatin. Validation of these drugs in our rat endometrial model determined that they significantly reduced endometriosis-associated vaginal hyperalgesia, a surrogate marker for endometriosis-related pain. The signatures of DEGs from uteri and lesions demonstrated reversal of the endometriosis disease signature with simvastatin and primaquine treatment. Overall design: RNA profiling on a rat model of endometriosis with a WT (no endo+no drug) group and five treatment groups: vehicle, fenoprofen, primaquine, simvastatin, and ibuprofen (positive control). Each group included six rats.