Causes of Endometriosis: Immunology

Reversal flow of menstrual blood with endometrium is not bound to cause endometriosis; in fact, only a few of them have endometriosis(EMS). So, why would this happen?

 

 

It has been found that the number and activity of macrophages in the peritoneal fluid of patients with EMS are significantly increased, and the cytokines produced by macrophages and other immune cells, such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor - α (TNF - α), are also increased. In addition, the number of helper T cells increased, and the number of inhibitory T cells decreased.

 

The increase of IgG and IgA in the endometrium, serum, and cervical secretion, and the increase of some antibodies in serum suggest that EMS is an autoimmune disease.

At present, it is believed that the reason why the endometrium with reversal flow of menstrual blood can be implanted in the abdominal cavity may be related to some defects in the immune mechanism of the patients, at least to some immune defects in the local abdominal cavity.

 

The cytotoxic effect of immunosurveillance and immune killer cells such as NK cells and macrophages was weakened, which promoted the transplantation and localization of ectopic endometrium. The cytokines released by immunoreactive cells promoted the survival and proliferation of ectopic endometrium.