The Pains of Endometriosis

Berkley KJ, Karen J. Berkley, Rapkin AJ, Andrea J. Rapkin, Papka RE, Raymond E Papka, R.E. Papka
Science (New York, N.Y.) · 2005 · vol. 308(5728) , pp. 1587–1589 · doi:10.1126/science.1111445 · PMID:15947176 · W2068756641
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

Endometriosis pain, often alleviated by estrogen suppression, may involve nerve growth into ectopic endometrial tissue, influencing central nervous system neuron activity.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a disease defined by the presence of endometrial tissue outside of the uterus. Severe pelvic pain is often associated with endometriosis, and this pain can be diminished with therapies that suppress estrogen production. Many women with endometriosis also suffer from other chronic pain conditions. Recent studies suggest that mechanisms underlying these pains and sensitivity to estrogen involve the growth into the ectopic endometrial tissue of a nerve supply, which could have a varied and widespread influence on the activity of neurons throughout the central nervous system.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Central Nervous System Endometriosis Neurons Pain Animals Central Nervous System Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Humans Neural Pathways Neurons Neurons, Afferent Neurons, Afferent Pain Rats Spinal Cord Spinal Cord

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (20)

Cited by (50)

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