Saturday 15 October 2005
Endostatin 'a promising non-toxic endometriosis treatment'
Source: Fertility and Sterility 2005; 84: 1144-55
Investigating whether the angiogenesis inhibitor endostatin can treat endometriosis, as well as its effects on fertility and reproduction.
An anti-angiogenic protein hinders the development of endometriosis in mice without any apparent negative effects on fertility or reproduction, US research shows.
As the acquisition of new blood vessels is essential for the endometriosis development, inhibition of angiogenesis has become an attractive therapeutic target. But the researchers point out that the fact angiogenesis is involved in many reproductive processes, including ovulation and implantation, poses a challenge to this treatment approach.
In the present study, the team, led by Christian Becker from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts, assesses the effects of the endogenous antiangiogenic protein endostatin on both endometriosis and fertility in mice that have had endometriosis surgically induced.
Endostatin suppressed the growth of endometriotic lesions by 47 percent without affecting the estrous cycle or formation of the corpus luteum, compared with controls. Female mice given endostatin were as fertile as those that received a vehicle-matched control, and delivered the same number of pups. In turn, their offspring were healthy and reproduced normally themselves.
"Taken together, these results demonstrate a potent new therapeutic approach that may avoid the typical side effects of current drugs used to treat endometriosis," the researchers conclude.
Posted: 14 October 2005
http://www.orgyn.com/en/news/2005/Week_41/Day_5/Endostatin__a_promis.asp?C=78711386400895717593 
Endostatin 'a promising non-toxic endometriosis treatment' 
