Phytoestrogens for the Management of Endometriosis: Findings and Issues

Abstract

Endometriosis, a chronic disease characterized by recurrent pelvic pain and infertility, severely impacts the health and life quality of many women worldwide. Since phytoestrogens are commonly found in a variety of foods, and estrogen is a major pathological factor for the pathogenesis of endometriosis, their possible involvement cannot be ignored. This review summarizes data on the relationship between phytoestrogen intake and endometriosis risk, and analyzes the findings from in vitro experiments, rodent endometriotic models, and human intervention trials. While favorable results were often obtained from endometrial primary cultures and animal models for resveratrol, isoflavones and puerarin, only resveratrol showed promising results in human intervention trials. Critical issues concerning the current study efforts are discussed: the possible reasons beneath the discrepant observations of estrogenic/anti-estrogenic effects by phytoestrogens; the complicated interplays between phytoestrogens and endogenous estrogens; the shortage of currently used animal models; the necessity to apply reasonable doses of phytoestrogens in experiments. It is expected that the analyses would help to more properly assess the phytoestrogens’ effects on the endometriosis pathogenesis and their potential values for preventive or therapeutic applications.

Deciphering resveratrol's role in modulating pathological pain: From molecular mechanisms to clinical relevance

“…Clinical trials have showcased resveratrol's analgesic potential in postmenopausal women (Cooney et al, 2022), knee osteoarthritis pain (Yang et al, 2022), and endometriosis pain (Cai et al, 2021) (Table 2). Wong et al (2017) discovered that resveratrol significantly reduced pain in postmenopausal women.…”

Endometriosis: A Disease with Few Direct Treatment Options

“…A study by Yu et al [129] showed that treatment with puerarin reduced the levels of estradiol and PGE2 in endometriotic rats, by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme P450 and COX-2, in addition to increasing the expression of 17β-HSD2, thus preventing the growth of endometrial tissue. Kim et al [130][131][132][133] showed that treatment with an extract obtained from flowers of P. lobata reduced the adhesion and migration of these cells, also reducing the formation of endometriotic lesions in mice. Figure 3 summarizes the main treatment options for endometriosis.…”

O potencial efeito do resveratrol no tratamento da endometriose

“…Três revisões relataram resultados diferentes em um outro experimento similar realizado. O uso do contraceptivo associado à adição do resveratrol durante dois meses diminuiu os escores de dor e suprimiu a dismenorreia e a dor pélvica (Cai et al, 2021;Chen et al, 2019;Meresman, et al, 2021).…”