Identifying Mechanisms of Endometriosis-Associated Reduced Fecundity in a Rat Model: Novel Insights toward Understanding Human Infertility

The existence of endometriosis has been known since at least the nineteenth century, yet the lack of understanding of causes of infertility and therefore inadequate treatment approaches in endometriosis creates a significant challenge in reproductive medicine. Women worldwide suffer not only pain and infertility but also economical, societal, and physiological burdens. Studies of reproductive events in women are difficult to conduct due to a host of confounding personal and environmental factors and ethically limited due to the very nature of working with reproductive tissues and cells, especially embryos. Animal models are a viable adjunct to study mechanisms causing human reproductive anomalies and infertility in endometriosis. This chapter discusses reproductive anomalies causing infertility in endometriosis and well-established animal models which help decipher the problems and lead to heretofore unknown nonsurgical, nonhormonal methods to manage endometriosis in women. In addition, studies of effects of developmental exposure to endometriosis are revealing for the first time, in both female and male offspring, transgenerational subfertility in a rat model providing insights into the familial nature of endometriosis and possible epigenetic involvement. Funding Source: National Institutes of Health National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R21 3625675 (to KST). Access this chapter Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout Purchases are for personal use only Similar content being viewed by others

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Costello2,3, Emily Secrist2,4, Sarah Striegel2,5, Epiphani C. Simmons2,6, Brianna Evans2,6, Kelly Gissy2,3,6, Holly H. Harrison2,5, and Brittany Harris Vilona2,5,6. We also thank Tim E. Evans, DVM7, for his generous assistance with evaluating the sperm morphology. 2Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, 3Division of Animal Science, 4Department of Biochemistry, 5Department of Biological Sciences, 6Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD) Exposure to Research for Science Students (EXPRESS) Program (IMDS EXPRESS Program), and 7Department of Veterinary Pathobiology Toxicology, The University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212 Author information Authors and Affiliations Corresponding author Editor information Editors and Affiliations Rights and permissions Copyright information © 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG About this chapter Cite this chapter Sharpe-Timms, K.L., Nabli, H., Stilley, J.A.W. (2020). Identifying Mechanisms of Endometriosis-Associated Reduced Fecundity in a Rat Model: Novel Insights toward Understanding Human Infertility. In: Sharpe-Timms, K.L. (eds) Animal Models for Endometriosis. Advances in Anatomy, Embryology and Cell Biology, vol 232. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51856-1_2 Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51856-1_2 Published: Publisher Name: Springer, Cham Print ISBN: 978-3-030-51855-4 Online ISBN: 978-3-030-51856-1 eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)