High-Fat Diets Promote Peritoneal Inflammation and Aggravate Endometriosis-Associated Pain in a Mouse Model of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex symptomatic and pathobiological nature that affects about 10% of reproductive-aged women. It is a condition with a complex array of causes and disease phenotypes and is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissues growing outside of the uterus. While symptom severity may differ from patient to patient, common disease phenotypes include chronic pelvic pain, dyspareunia (painful intercourse), dysmenorrhea (painful periods), dysuria (painful urination), fatigue, and infertility. While there are a variety of risk factors for developing endometriosis, the effects of western, high-fat diets (HFD) are a growing concern, especially in the development of more severe symptoms. Typical high-fat western diets have been linked to greater systemic inflammation and dysmenorrhea, which makes it necessary to know how the altered physiology caused by HFD affects the severity of endometriosis symptoms. To study the effects of HFD on endometriosis, we used an innovative endometriosis mouse model that has been developed in Hayashi Lab to characterize whether HFD influence endometriosis-associated symptoms such as hyperalgesia (pain). Since both obesity and endometriosis are chronic inflammatory conditions, a comprehensive study of immune cells profiles in the peritoneal cavity, lesions, related inflammatory factors, and dorsal root ganglia (DRG) to assess alterations of peripheral nerves, was designed to provide necessary insight into the interplay of these diseases. We sought to examine how HFDs alter systemic and local immune environments in endometriosis and discern their contribution to endometriotic-associated hyperalgesia.