Endocrine disrupting chemicals and endometriosis

Melissa M. Smarr, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Germaine M. Buck Louis
Fertility and sterility · 2016 · vol. 106(4) , pp. 959–966 · doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2016.06.034 · PMID:27424048 · W2472961939
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This paper examines the link between endocrine disrupting chemicals and endometriosis, reviewing evidence on their potential role in disease development and progression.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is an estrogen dependent gynecologic disease with lasting implications for many women's fertility, somatic health, and overall quality of life. Growing evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may be etiologically involved in the development and severity of disease. We weigh the available human evidence focusing on EDCs and endometriosis, restricting to research that has individually quantified chemical concentrations for women, included a comparison group of unaffected women, and used multivariable analytic techniques. Evidence supporting an environmental etiology for endometriosis includes metals/trace elements, dioxins, and other persistent organic pollutants, as well as nonpersistent chemicals, such as benzophenones and phthalates. To address the equivocal findings for various EDCs, future research directions for filling data gaps include [1] use of integrated clinical and population sampling frameworks allowing for incorporation of new diagnostic modalities; [2] the collection of various biologic media, including target tissues for quantifying exposures; [3] study designs that offer various comparison groups to assess potentially shared etiologies with other gynecologic disorders; and [4] novel laboratory and statistical approaches that fully explore all measured EDCs for the assessment of mixtures and low dose effects and the use of directed acyclic graphs and supporting causal analysis for empirically delineating relationships between EDCs and endometriosis.

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endocrine Disruptors Endometriosis Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollutants Animals Endocrine Disruptors Endometriosis Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollutants Female Humans Risk Assessment Risk Factors

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 (74)

Cited by (50)

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