Influence of Nerve Growth Factor in Endometriosis-Associated Symptoms

Maria L Barcena de Arellano, Maria Luisa Barcena, Julia Arnold, Julia T. Arnold, Giuseppe Filiberto Vercellino, Giuseppe F Vercellino, Vito Chiàntera, Vito Chiantera, Andreas D Ebert, Achim Schneider, Sylvia Mechsner
Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2011 · vol. 18(12) , pp. 1202–1210 · doi:10.1177/1933719111410711 · PMID:21673280 · W1967426661
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Peritoneal fluids from endometriosis patients induced neurite outgrowth, showing moderate NGF expression without significant differences across pain groups, indicating neurotrophic properties are endometriosis-associated, not pain-associated.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text ⓘ

This prospective, clinical, blind study investigated whether nerve growth factor (NGF) in peritoneal fluid contributes to dysmenorrhea and/or pelvic pain in patients with histologically proven endometriosis. Peritoneal fluid was tested using a neuronal growth assay with cultured chicken dorsal root ganglia and assessed for NGF-related protein expression by Western blot, with patients stratified into seven groups by preoperative pain score and symptomatology (none, minimal, or severe pain categories). The peritoneal fluids induced neurite outgrowth, and NGF expression in endometriosis peritoneal fluid was moderate, but there were no significant differences across the pain groups, leading the authors to conclude that NGF neurotrophic effects are endometriosis-associated rather than pain-associated. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it evaluates NGF/peritoneal fluid neurotrophic properties in relation to endometriosis-associated symptoms.

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Abstract

To investigate the role of the nerve growth factor (NGF) in the development of dysmenorrhea/pelvic pain in patients with endometriosis, we performed a prospective, clinical, blind study. Peritoneal fluids (PFs) were obtained from patients with histologically proven endometriosis. Patients with endometriosis were divided into 7 different groups depending on their preoperative pain score and symptomatology: patients with no pain, patients with minimal pain (dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain, or both), and patients with severe pain (dysmenorrhea, pelvic pain, or both) and were used for the neuronal growth assay with cultured chicken dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and for Western blot analyses. Dorsal root ganglia were stained with anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and anti-growth-associated protein 43 (GAP 43). Peritoneal fluids from patients with endometriosis induce neurite outgrowth. There was no significant difference in the outgrowth between the 7 pain groups. Western blot analyses showed a moderate NGF expression in the PFs from patients with endometriosis, without significant differences in the 7 pain groups. The present study suggests that the neurotrophic properties of endometriotic tissues are endometriosis- and not pain-associated. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Sci. 18, 1202–1210 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719111410711 Published: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1933719111410711

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Condition tags

mesh:D004412mesh:D004715mesh:D017699endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Endometriosis Endometriosis Nerve Growth Factor Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Adult Animals Ascitic Fluid Ascitic Fluid Blotting, Western Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Cells, Cultured Chick Embryo Dysmenorrhea Dysmenorrhea Endometriosis Endometriosis

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