The Role of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Pathogenesis and Treatment of Endometriosis

Endometriosis is a significant debilitating gynaecological disorder but the precise aetiology of that is still not clear. Angiogenesis is a major prerequisite for the initiation and progression of endometriosis. Nowadays, many researchers focus on the association between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), the most powerful angiogenic factor, and endometriosis. A large number of studies have begun to investigate the potential role of VEGF gene promoter region polymorphism in the development of endometriosis. Single nucleotide polymor- phisms (SNPs) in the VEGF 5′untranslated region (5′UTR) or 3′untranslated region (3′UTR) have been reported to be associated with endometriosis in different populations. The representative of functional VEGF polymorphisms, -2578A/C, +405G/C, -460T/C and +936C/T, have an effect upon VEGF gene promoter activity and result in an in- crease of VEGF levels. And several experiments show the management of antiangiogenic agents, such as antihuman vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-hVEGF), can effectively inhibit the development of endometriosis. These will shed promising light on the diagnosis and therapy for endometriosis.