Endometriosis and Infertility: The Role of Oxidative Stress

Ionara Diniz Evangelista Santos Barcelos, Paula Andrea Navarro
In: Endometriosis - Basic Concepts and Current Research Trends · 2012 · doi:10.5772/31406 · W1604994019
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Reactive oxygen species, generated through cellular respiration and other reactions, play a role in both normal reproductive function and pathological conditions like endometriosis, potentially causing DNA damage.

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This chapter reviews the mechanistic link between oxidative stress and infertility in patients with endometriosis, focusing on how reactive oxygen species damage gametes and implantation sites. The authors describe elevated levels of oxidative markers in the peritoneal fluid and serum of affected individuals, which correlate with reduced oocyte quality and impaired embryo development. While the text establishes a strong association between oxidative imbalance and reproductive failure, it notes that direct causal evidence remains difficult to isolate due to the multifactorial nature of infertility. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — specifically examining its role in infertility through the lens of oxidative stress mechanisms.

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Abstract

The ROS have physiological and pathological functions in the female reproductive tract. Fertility problems related to ROS have etiopathogenic factors in common These reactive species are generated through enzymatic and non-enzymatic organic reactions. Biological reactions, through electron transference or through oxigenase, that use www.intechopen.com Endometriosis -Basic Concepts and Current Research Trends 400 oxygen (O 2 ) as substrate, generate large amounts of ROS. As the mithocondrial respiratory chain is the major O 2 cell intake system, the majority of ROS are produced by this system under physiological conditions The superoxide radical (O 2 -) is formed when electrons leak from the electron transport chain (O 2 + e - O 2 -) The dismutation of superoxide results in the formation of hydrogen peroxide ( et al., 2005). The same can also be generated by reduction of O 2 -(O 2 -+ e -+ 2 H + H 2 O 2 ) The hidroxyl (OH -) ion is formed by the acquisition of 1 electron by H 2 O 2 (H 2 O 2 + e-+ H + OH + H 2 O) The hydroxyl ion is highly reactive and can modify purines and pyrimidines and cause strand breaks resulting in DNA damage
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Open access Submitted: 30 March 2011 Published: 09 May 2012 DOI: 10.5772/31406 From the Edited Volume Edited by Koel Chaudhury and Baidyanath Chakravarty Submitted: 30 March 2011 Published: 09 May 2012 © 2012 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Discover 2026 Nobel Laureate Francis Halzen’s chapter on IntechOpen >

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