Combination therapy with telmisartan and parecoxib induces regression of endometriotic lesions

Anca Nenicu, Yuan Gu, Christina Körbel, Michael D Menger, Matthias W. Laschke
British journal of pharmacology · 2017 · vol. 174(16) , pp. 2623–2635 · doi:10.1111/bph.13874 · PMID:28548231 · W2619259607
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 14 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Combination therapy with telmisartan and the COX-2 inhibitor parecoxib reduced endometriotic lesion volume, vascularization, proliferation, and nerve growth more effectively than telmisartan alone.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Telmisartan suppresses the development of endometriotic lesions. However, the drug also up-regulates the expression of COX-2, which has been suggested to promote the progression of endometriosis. Accordingly, in the present study we analysed whether a combination therapy with telmisartan and a COX-2 inhibitor may be more effective in the treatment of endometriotic lesions than the application of telmisartan alone. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: ), a combination of telmisartan and parecoxib or vehicle. Therapeutic effects on lesion survival, growth, vascularization, innervation and protein expression were studied over 4 weeks by high-resolution ultrasound imaging as well as immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses. KEY RESULTS: Telmisartan-treated lesions exhibited a significantly reduced lesion volume when compared with vehicle-treated controls and parecoxib-treated lesions. This inhibitory effect of telmisartan was even more pronounced when it was used in combination with parecoxib. The combination therapy resulted in a reduced microvessel density as well as lower numbers of proliferating Ki67-positive cells and higher numbers of apoptotic cleaved caspase-3-positive stromal cells within the lesions. This was associated with a lower expression of COX-2, MMP-9 and p-Akt/Akt when compared with controls. The application of the two drugs further inhibited the ingrowth of nerve fibres into the lesions. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Combination therapy with telmisartan and a COX-2 inhibitor represents a novel, effective pharmacological strategy for the treatment of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers Benzimidazoles Benzoates Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors Endometriosis Isoxazoles Angiotensin II Type 1 Receptor Blockers Animals Benzimidazoles Benzoates Caspase 3 Caspase 3 Cyclooxygenase 2 Cyclooxygenase 2 Cyclooxygenase 2 Inhibitors Disease Models, Animal Drug Therapy, Combination Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

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