The Main Theories on the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis

Jelizaveta Lamceva, Romans Uljanovs, Ilze Štrumfa
International journal of molecular sciences · 2023 · vol. 24(5) , pp. 4254 · doi:10.3390/ijms24054254 · PMID:36901685 · W4321458257
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 156 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review discusses major pathogenetic theories for endometriosis, a complex disease affecting 10% of reproductive-age women, including retrograde menstruation, immune dysregulation, and stem cell involvement.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a complex disease, which is defined by abnormal growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus. It affects about 10% of women of reproductive age all over the world. Endometriosis causes symptoms that notably worsen patient's well-being-such as severe pelvic pain, dysfunction of the organs of pelvic cavity, infertility and secondary mental issues. The diagnosis of endometriosis is quite often delayed because of nonspecific manifestations. Since the disease was defined, several different pathogenetic pathways have been considered, including retrograde menstruation, benign metastasis, immune dysregulation, coelomic metaplasia, hormonal disbalance, involvement of stem cells and alterations in epigenetic regulation, but the true pathogenesis of endometriosis remains poorly understood. The knowledge of the exact mechanism of the origin and progression of this disease is significant for the appropriate treatment. Therefore, this review reports the main pathogenetic theories of endometriosis based on current studies.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Infertility Infertility Infertility Infertility Infertility Epigenesis, Genetic Epigenesis, Genetic Epigenesis, Genetic Epigenesis, Genetic Epigenesis, Genetic Female Female Female Female

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.

References (58)

Cited by (50)

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