The role and significance of endomorphin-1 and μ-opioid receptor in rats with endometriosis

Duan L, Lijun Duan, Jinyang Wang, Wang J, Sun X, Xiaotong Sun, Yang X, Xueping Yang, Shan Long, Long Shan, Shan L, Liu Y, Yan Liu, Wang H, Hailin Wang
Gynecological endocrinology : the official journal of the International Society of Gynecological Endocrinology · 2016 · vol. 32(11) , pp. 912–915 · doi:10.1080/09513590.2016.1190816 · PMID:27252115 · W2416864960
Lab / animal OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 4 in-corpus citations
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Endometriosis model rats showed increased endomorphin-1 and decreased reproductive hormones, with naloxone reversing these changes, suggesting endomorphin-1 regulates the hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis.

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Abstract

Endomorphin-1 (EM-1) was reported to have very high affinity and selectivity for μ-opioid receptor (MOR). However, it remained unclear whether EM-1 and MOR were involved in the pathologies of endometriosis resulting in reduced fertility. In this study, RT-PCR, radioimmunoassay, immunohistochemistry, and Western blot were used, respectively. The results showed that the immune positive cells of EM-1 in hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovaries were significantly increased in endometriosis model rats, accompanied by the increase of plasma level of EM-1 and the decrease of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and progesterone (P). Interestingly, EM-1 was negatively correlated with FSH and LH (p < 0.05). More importantly, Naloxone (MOR antagonist) can significantly reduce the levels of EM-1 in serum, hypothalamus, pituitary, and ovaries, while increased the levels of FSH and LH. In conclusion, our results suggested that EM-1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of the endometriosis-associated infertility by regulating hypothalamus-pituitary-ovarian axis, and Naloxone may be a new alternative drug for the treatment of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosisinfertility

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Oligopeptides Receptors, Opioid, mu Animals Animals Disease Models, Animal Disease Models, Animal Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Female Oligopeptides Oligopeptides Oligopeptides Rats Rats Rats, Wistar Rats, Wistar Receptors, Opioid, mu

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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. Outer rings show 2-hop neighbours — papers reached through the immediate citers/citees. [ collapse to 1-hop ]

References (23)

Cited by (5)

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