Neuroimmunomodulatory Alterations in Non-Lesional Peritoneum Close to Peritoneal Endometriosis

Arnold J, Julia Arnold, Julia T. Arnold, Giuseppe Filiberto Vercellino, Vercellino GF, Vito Chiàntera, Vito Chiantera, Achim Schneider, Schneider A, Sylvia Mechsner, Maria Luisa Barcena de Arellano, Maria Luisa Barcena, Barcena de Arellano ML
Neuroimmunomodulation · 2012 · vol. 20(1) , pp. 9–18 · doi:10.1159/000342163 · PMID:23154237 · W2034778228
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 40 in-corpus citations
View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Non-lesional peritoneum near endometriosis has reduced overall nerve density but elevated immune cells, nerve growth factor, and IL-1β compared to healthy peritoneum.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: An imbalance in the ratio of sensory to sympathetic nerve fibre (NF) density in peritoneal endometriotic lesions (pEL) has recently been demonstrated and leads to the assumption that this preponderance of the sensory pro-inflammatory milieu is a major cause of pain in endometriosis. Therefore, the density of sensory and sympathetic NFs was determined in distal unaffected peritoneum of endometriosis patients to be able to detect possible alterations in unaffected peritoneum. METHODS: In serial pEL sections (n = 40), lesional and matching unaffected peritoneum as well as healthy peritoneum (HP) from patients without endometriosis (n = 15) were immunohistochemically analysed to identify protein gene product 9.5-, substance P- and tyrosine hydroxylase-positive NFs (intact, sensory and sympathetic NFs, respectively). In addition, the amount of immune cell infiltrates and the expression of nerve growth factor (NGF) and interleukin (IL)-1β in nerves of peritoneal endometriotic specimens were compared to those in the HP. RESULTS: The overall NF density in the non-lesional, unaffected peritoneum of endometriosis patients is significantly reduced in comparison to both HP and pEL, while sensory NFs remain the same; the sympathetic NF density is significantly decreased compared to HP, but is still higher than the density close to the pEL. Immune cell infiltrates as well as NGF and IL-1β expression in nerves is significantly elevated in distal unaffected peritoneum in comparison to HP. CONCLUSION: The altered NF density in the non-lesional, unaffected peritoneum of endometriosis patients suggests new aspects in the understanding of the development of endometriosis and pain management in endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneum Adolescent Adrenergic Fibers Adrenergic Fibers Adult Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Immunohistochemistry Middle Aged Nerve Growth Factor Nerve Growth Factor Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneal Diseases Peritoneum

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 (61)

Cited by (41)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-09-30T06:18:36.089610+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:15:58.344756+00:00
unpaywall
last seen: 2026-09-30T06:35:30.012611+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK