{"paper_id":"1deeca4f-0695-4fa3-b78d-77db9f6d6a69","body_text":"-\nABSTRACT\nEndometriosis (EMs) is a significant cause of female infertility, and recent attention has focused on the relationship between iron levels in follicular fluid (FF) and oocyte quality. This perspective summarizes the characteristics of altered FF iron content and oocyte quality in EMs-associated infertility patients, along with detection methods and correlative studies. Current research indicates that dysregulated iron levels in the FF of EMs patients may be associated with diminished oocyte quality. However, the clinical utilization of FF iron content as an evaluation indicator faces multiple challenges. Future investigations should prioritize elucidating the regulatory mechanisms of iron homeostasis in the FF of EMs patients, establishing standardized detection and evaluation protocols, and providing novel insights for assisted reproductive therapies in EMs-related infertility cases. -\nREFERENCES\n[1] Li Y., He Y., Cheng W., et al. (2023). Double-edged roles of ferroptosis in endometriosis and endometriosis-related infertility. Cell Death Discov. 9:306. DOI:10.1038/s41420-023-01606-8 [2] Li A., Ni Z., Zhang J., et al. (2020). Transferrin insufficiency and iron overload in follicular fluid contribute to oocyte dysmaturity in infertile women with advanced endometriosis. Front Endocrinol. 11:391. DOI:10.3389/fendo.2020.00391 [3] Sanchez A. M., Papaleo E., Corti L., et al. (2014). Iron availability is increased in individual human ovarian follicles in close proximity to an endometrioma compared with distal ones. Hum. Reprod. 29:577−583. DOI:10.1093/humrep/det466 [4] Wu Y., Yang R., Lan J., et al. (2023). Iron overload modulates follicular microenvironment via ROS/HIF-1α/FSHR signaling. Free Radic. Biol. Med. 196:37−52. DOI:10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2022.12.105 [5] Collodel G., Gambera L., Stendardi A., et al. (2023). Follicular fluid components in reduced ovarian reserve, endometriosis, and idiopathic infertility. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 24:2589. DOI:10.3390/ijms24032589 [6] Holmes-Hampton G. P., Tong W. H. and Rouault T. A. (2014). Biochemical and biophysical methods for studying mitochondrial iron metabolism. Methods Enzymol. 547:275−307. DOI:10.1016/b978-0-12-801415-8.00015-1 [7] Li H., Yue H., Li H., et al. (2025). High-throughput point-of-care serum iron testing utilizing machine learning-assisted deep eutectic solvent fluorescence detection platform. J. Colloid. Interface Sci. 680:389−404. DOI:10.1016/j.jcis.2024.11.110 [8] Wang F., Glenn A. J., Tessier A. J., et al. (2024). Integration of epidemiological and blood biomarker analysis links haem iron intake to increased type 2 diabetes risk. Nat. Metab. 6:1807−1818. DOI:10.1038/s42255-024-01109-5 [9] Ni Z., Li Y., Song D., et al. (2022). Iron-overloaded follicular fluid increases the risk of endometriosis-related infertility by triggering granulosa cell ferroptosis and oocyte dysmaturity. Cell Death Dis. 13:579. DOI:10.1038/s41419-022-05037-8 [10] Rodríguez-Varela C. and Labarta E. (2020). Clinical application of antioxidants to improve human oocyte mitochondrial function: A review. Antioxidants 9:1197. DOI:10.3390/antiox9121197 -\nABOUT THIS ARTICLE\nCite this article:\nNi Z., Li Y. and Yu C. (2025). Can iron serve as oocyte quality indicator in endometriosis? The Innovation Medicine 3:100130. https://doi.org/10.59717/j.xinn-med.2025.100130\nTo request copyright permission to republish or share portions of our works, please visit Copyright Clearance Center's (CCC) Marketplace website at marketplace.copyright.com.\n-\nFigure 1.\nChallenges in assessing iron levels in follicular fluid","source_license":"CC0","license_restricted":false}