Purinergic Signaling in Endometriosis-Associated Pain

Carla Trapero, Mireia Martín-Satué, Mireia Martín‐Satué
International journal of molecular sciences · 2020 · vol. 21(22) , pp. 8512 · doi:10.3390/ijms21228512 · PMID:33198179 · W3100265606
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This review examines how purinergic signaling, particularly P2X3 receptor activation and altered ectonucleotidase activity, contributes to endometriosis-associated pain and explores purinome-targeted drugs as potential therapies.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent gynecological disease, with an associated chronic inflammatory component, characterized by the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterine cavity. Its predominant symptom is pain, a condition notably altering the quality of life of women with the disease. This review is intended to exhaustively gather current knowledge on purinergic signaling in endometriosis-associated pain. Altered extracellular ATP hydrolysis, due to changes in ectonucleotidase activity, has been reported in endometriosis; the resulting accumulation of ATP in the endometriotic microenvironment points to sustained activation of nucleotide receptors (P2 receptors) capable of generating a persistent pain message. P2X3 receptor, expressed in sensory neurons, mediates nociceptive, neuropathic, and inflammatory pain, and is enrolled in endometriosis-related pain. Pharmacological inhibition of P2X3 receptor is under evaluation as a pain relief treatment for women with endometriosis. The role of other ATP receptors is also discussed here, e.g., P2X4 and P2X7 receptors, which are involved in inflammatory cell-nerve and microglia-nerve crosstalk, and therefore in inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Adenosine receptors (P1 receptors), by contrast, mainly play antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory roles. Purinome-targeted drugs, including nucleotide receptors and metabolizing enzymes, are potential non-hormonal therapeutic tools for the pharmacological management of endometriosis-related pain.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Pain Receptors, Purinergic Signal Transduction Animals Endometriosis Female Humans Pain Receptors, Purinergic Signal Transduction

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.

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Cited by (10)

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