New drugs for the treatment of endometriosis

Two new drugs arrive, which do not harm fertility, to treat endometriosis.

They are the result of research by a team of scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with whom researchers hope one day to be able to help 10 percent of women of reproductive age who suffer from this condition, which can cause infertility and chronic pain.

Endometriosis is a complex disease in which the tissue that normally lines the inner wall of the uterus (the endometrium) develops into other organs (such as ovaries, fallopian tubes, vagina, intestines…), causing injuries, adhesions, chronic inflammation and infertility of 50% of women who suffer from it.

A temporary solution is to surgically remove the lesions and thus relieve the pain until they reform. A long-term solution is the reduction of systemic estrogen levels. However, this has side effects leading to symptoms of menopause and infertility, a counterproductive remedy for those who are trying to get pregnant.

There may be a viable alternative.

Benita Katzenellenbogen and colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that estrogen receptors in lesions are different from those found in normal reproductive tissues. Thanks to this discovery they were able to develop two drugs that only affect receptors in the “rebellious” endometrial tissue.

These drugs are chloroindazole and oxabicycloheptene sulfonate. Administered to mice, they saw both shrinking existing endometrial lesions and stopping the growth of new lesions. The team of researchers believe that the drugs work in part by interfering with the inflammation process.

They have seen the development of new nerve endings and therefore pain reduced; More importantly, none of the drugs altered the rodents’ fertility or the health of their cubs.

Unfortunately, despite the satisfactory results, it may take several years before moving on to human trials. It is fascinating to see how the drugs had little effect on endometrial tissue and their offspring, but it remains to be seen whether this can work on humans.