The link between environmental toxicant exposure and endometriosis

Dana L Anger, L. Anger Dana, Warren G Foster
Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library · 2007 · vol. 13(13) , pp. 1578 · doi:10.2741/2782 · PMID:17981650 · W1521668645
review OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 46 in-corpus citations
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This paper reviews evidence linking environmental toxicants, particularly dioxins, to endometriosis and discusses novel animal models and genetic targets for future research.

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

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This paper reviews the proposed relationship between environmental toxicant exposure and endometriosis, focusing on how dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals have been linked to the disease based on animal and experimental findings. It notes that while retrograde menstruation occurs in about 90% of women, endometriosis prevalence is lower, motivating investigation of additional factors such as toxicants; it also states that epidemiological evidence is equivocal and the mechanisms are poorly understood. A limitation emphasized is the need for novel animal models that better recapitulate endometriosis pathogenesis and pathophysiology. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it discusses how environmental toxicants, particularly dioxin/dioxin-like chemicals, may contribute to endometriosis pathobiology and highlights research gaps in mechanism and modeling.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Endometriosis is an estrogen-dependent disease characterized by the growth of endometrial cells in ectopic locations. Although the etiology of endometriosis is unknown, several hypotheses have been proposed to explain its origin. Retrograde menstruation of endometrial cells into the peritoneum is the most widely accepted theory, however, this phenomenon occurs in approximately 90% of women while the prevalence of endometriosis is much lower. Hence, other factors are thought to contribute to the development of this disease, including exposure to environmental toxicants. Although the epidemiological evidence is equivocal, animal and experimental investigations provide a basis for the proposed association between dioxin and dioxin-like chemical exposure and endometriosis. However, the mechanism(s) underlying this potential association are poorly understood. Development of novel animal models that more reliably recapitulate the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of this disease provide exciting opportunities to further test the link between exposure to these chemicals and endometriosis. Moreover, differential expression of several novel genes that may be important in the disease provides new targets to test the actions of environmental toxicants in the pathobiology of endometriosis.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endocrine System Endometriosis Environmental Exposure Animals Dioxins Dioxins Disease Models, Animal Endocrine System Endometriosis Endometriosis Environment Esters Esters Female Humans Hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons Polychlorinated Biphenyls Polychlorinated Biphenyls

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 (100)

Cited by (46)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-06-11T06:19:48.454388+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:14:48.452140+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK