Main Investigator: Prof. Antonio Pellicer Martínez
Investigator: Dr. Raul Gomez
Students: Francisco M. Delgado Rosas
Research Description
The endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disorder of idiopathic origin and functional disability associated with infertility in women in reproductive age and that is characterized for the presence of the functional endometrium out of the uterine cavity. In asymptomatic women the ranks of prevalence are up to 22% while in women with dysmenorrhoea, the ranks of incident vary from 40 to 60%, and in women with infertility, between 20 and 30%.
The hypothesis of work has come from our interest in the endometriosis shown in previous projects and in the experimental results obtained in another part of the basic ginecological investigation as different as is the pathogenesis of ovarian hyperstimulation So that the endometrium can implant in extrauterine places is essential to establish a new network of blood vessels that supports the endometrial implant and and allow the development of endometriosis. Blocking the formation of new vessels by inhibitors on animal models has demonstrated its efficacy for the treatment of the endometriosis, but the employed agents are extremely toxic, what limits its immediate clinical application. Our work of investigation in other fields of the infertility has carried us to consider the dopamine agonists as an alternative to the use of neoangiogenic blocking , therefore experiments both in vivo and in vitro studies have shown its effectiveness Also the presence of endometriosis is often associated with hyperprolactinemia (prolactin secretion in large quantities, which is inhibited in normal conditions by the dopamine) as dopamine agonists are a safe way, efficient and promising since its toxicity is nonexistent and they are used in clinic in a routine way..
In our last work published we have centered in the development of an experimental model of the endometriosis in animals by transplantation of human endometrial tissue into mice immunosuppressed. Through analysis of different molecules that determine the formation of newformation and destruction of vessels, as well as the mature and immature existence of vessels, we have been able to determine the mechanisms of molecular action that are activated with the administration of dopamine agonists to obtain the effects antiangiogénicos that we have verified . These promising results in the animal model have coaxed us but it is to practice the effect of the administration of dopamine agonists in women with endometriosis as an efficient alternative to reduce and even to eliminate these endometrial implants that cause them pain and infertility. The publication of the first pilot trial in humans is imminent and we will we be able to communicate the results in this web in the following months. Said pilot trial is part of a project a lot more ambitious in the context of a multicenter clinical trial that had been prolonged at least during two years and in which the efficacy of the dopamine agonists was evaluated for the treatment of the endometrosis in hundreds of women. If our hypothesis is confirmed we will be global pioneers again in the implementation of new effective approaches but mostly devoid of secondary effects for the treatment of ginecological diseases.
Posted Items
Pellicer A, Albert C, Garrido N, Navarro J, Remohí J, Simón C.
The pathophysiology of endometriosis-associated infertility: follicular environment and embryo quality. J Reprod Fertil Suppl. 55:109-19. (2000)
Garrido N, Albert C, Krüssel JS, O'Connor JE, Remohí J, Simón C, Pellicer A.
Expression, production, and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-6 by granulosa cells is comparable in women with and without endometriosis. Fertil Steril. 76:568-75. (2001)
Garrido N, Krüssel JS, Remohí J, Simón C, Pellicer A.
xpression and function of 3beta hydroxisteroid dehydrogenase (3beta HSD) type II and corticosteroid binding globulin (CBG) in granulosa cells from ovaries of women with and without endometriosis. J Assist Reprod Genet. 19:24-30. (2002)
Lima-Couy I, Cervero A, Bonilla-Musoles F, Pellicer A, Simón C.
Endometrial leptin and leptin receptor expression in women with severe/moderate endometriosis. Mol Hum Reprod. 10:777-82. (2004)