
At a glance:
Research uncovers new details of communication between nervous and immune systems in endometriosis.
Findings in mice point to existing migraine medications as a potential treatment for the condition.
Team is now exploring a clinical trial and investigating whether other existing drugs could alleviate endometriosis symptoms.
Researchers have gained new insights into the basic biology of endometriosis — a common, mysterious, and often painful condition of the female reproductive system. In the process, the team identified an unexpected avenue toward alleviating symptoms of the condition, which has proven difficult to treat effectively.
The study, conducted in mice and led by scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, uncovered molecular details of how the nervous system and the immune system communicate in endometriosis.
Specifically, the researchers identified a small molecule called calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) that plays an important role in this crosstalk.
The CGRP pathway is a target of several existing migraine medications, and when the team administered these drugs to lab mice, they seemed to reduce endometriosis pain and lesion size.
The researchers are now exploring partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, with the goal of launching a clinical trial to test the migraine drugs in patients with endometriosis.
The findings are published March 19 in Science Translational Medicine.
New endometriosis treatments needed
In patients with endometriosis, tissue similar to the uterine lining grows outside the uterus, forming lesions in the fallopian tubes, ovaries, or pelvis. These lesions can cause severe pain during periods, heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic or abdominal pain, and painful bowel movements and urination.
Existing treatments for endometriosis have changed little in the past 30 years and are often ineffective or have undesired side effects. Options include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers, which don’t always work, or hormones, which can interfere with getting pregnant. Surgery can remove some of the lesions, but they often return.
Authorship, funding, disclosures
Additional authors on the study include Tiago Zaninelli, Fernanda Rasquel-Oliveira, Olivia Heintz, Ashish Jain, Liang Sun, Maya Seshan, Daniëlle Peterse, Anne Lindholm, Raymond Anchan, and Waldiceu Verri Jr.
The research was supported by the J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation, the Marriott Daughters Foundation, and the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, endorsed by the Department of Defense through the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (HT9425-23-1-0040).
Fattori and Rogers are inventors on patent PCT/US2023/079238.