New treatment for endometriosis in sight?

Lisa Vogel studied departmental journalism with a focus on medicine and biosciences at Ansbach University and deepened her journalistic knowledge in the master's degree in multimedia information and communication. This was followed by a traineeship in the editorial team. Since September 2020 she has been writing as a freelance journalist for

More posts by Lisa Vogel All content is checked by medical journalists.

An antibiotic could be the key to a new form of treatment for endometriosis. Due to its effect on certain intestinal germs, the painful mucous membrane growths are reduced.

In endometriosis, uterine lining cells migrate to areas of the body where they do not belong. They react accordingly with every menstrual period. Growths and cysts form. They develop on the ovaries, fallopian tubes in the intestine or in the abdomen.This is often very painful and can cause infertility. So far there is no drug that works against endometriosis.

Gut bacteria affect endometriosis

Scientists at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis wanted to investigate the influence of intestinal bacteria on endometriosis in an experiment. To do this, they first planted proliferating cells of the mucous membrane in mice. They then changed the intestinal flora of the animals using various antibiotics.

Metronidazole shrinks growths

During the evaluation, they made a surprising discovery: after 21 days they found that the endometriosis growths in the mice that were treated with the broad spectrum antibiotic metronidazole had significantly decreased. The other antibiotics tested showed no effect on the size of the growths.

The scientists suspect that certain intestinal microbes fuel the endometriosis growths and worsen the symptoms. The antibiotic eliminates these bacteria and thus indirectly influences the growth of the mucous membrane.

New treatment method in sight?

"Our initial goal was to understand how these gut bacteria can be linked to endometriosis," says Ramakrishna Kommagani, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Center for Reproductive Health Sciences at Washington University and lead researcher on the study However, if the results of the mouse model are to be transferred to humans, further investigations must be clarified.

So far, there are only two treatment options available to those affected. One is hormonal drugs that affect the cycle and suppress the build-up of the uterine lining. The second option is surgical removal of the endometriosis foci. But they often form anew over and over again.

Uterine cells migrate

Endometriosis is one of the most common abdominal diseases in women. Cells of the uterine lining (endometrium) migrate into the surrounding tissue and begin to proliferate there. During the monthly cycle, these settlements grow in the same way as the lining of the uterus. This causes cramp-like pain during menstruation and the formation of cysts. If the tissue on the fallopian tubes and ovaries proliferates, this can lead to infertility.

Endometriosis is likely to have five to 15 percent of women of childbearing age. The disease can progress without symptoms and is often discovered only by chance.

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