Escherichia coli inhibits endometriosis by inducing M1 polarity of peritoneal macrophages and the IL-1 signaling pathway

Shumin Yan, Yufei Huang, Le Xu, Xiaoyu Dong, S Wang, Shuang Wang, Xue Jiao, Ming Yuan, Guoyun Wang
Molecular human reproduction · 2023 · vol. 29(6) · doi:10.1093/molehr/gaad014 · PMID:37079746 · W4366465853
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 2 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This study found that *Escherichia coli* inhibits endometriosis lesion growth in mice by inducing M1 macrophage polarization via the IL-1 signaling pathway, suggesting *E. coli* may be protective.

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Abstract

The development of endometriosis is closely linked to macrophages, and the type M1 macrophage has been hypothesized to play an inhibitory role in its progression. Escherichia coli induces macrophage polarization toward M1 in numerous diseases and differs in the reproductive tract of patients with and without endometriosis; however, its specific role in endometriosis development remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, E. coli was selected as a stimulator to induce macrophages, and its effects on the growth of endometriosis lesions in vitro and in vivo were investigated using C57BL/6N female mice and endometrial cells. It was revealed that E. coli inhibited the migration and proliferation of co-cultured endometrial cells by IL-1 in vitro and prevented the growth of lesions and induced macrophage polarization toward M1 in vivo. However, this change was counteracted by C-C motif chemokine receptor 2 inhibitors, suggesting that it was associated with bone marrow-derived macrophages. Overall, the presence of E. coli in the abdominal cavity may be a protective factor for endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Macrophages, Peritoneal Macrophages, Peritoneal Macrophages, Peritoneal

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 (54)

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