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Potential New Drugs for Endometriosis: Experimental Evidence

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Endometriosis

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Abstract

Endometriosis, a disease affecting 3–10 % of women of reproductive age, is characterized by the ectopic growth of endometrial tissue. Recent basic studies have revealed that the dysregulation of apoptosis, fibrosis, and epigenetic factors plays important roles in the pathogenesis of this enigmatic disease.

Contraceptive steroids, progestogens, agonists of gonadotropin-releasing hormone, androgens, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents have been used to treat endometriosis. Endometriosis treatments designed to lower circulating estradiol concentrations can be used only for a limited time due to unacceptable side effects. The development of medical treatments based on novel strategies to prevent or treat endometriosis has thus become a research priority.

Regarding the development of novel medical treatments for endometriosis, many researchers have been evaluating new drugs including molecular-targeting agents and herbal medicine as well as the newly developed hormonal agents. This chapter is a review of the findings from recent basic research on the pathogenesis of endometriosis and the evaluations of novel medical treatments for this disease, especially focusing on the inhibitors of nuclear factor-κB, the mevalonate-Rho/ROCK pathway, and histone deacetylase. These agents are now considered promising agents for the treatment and prevention of endometriosis.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (no. 13237327 to K. Nasu, no. 25861500 to Y. Kawano, and no. 23592407 to H. Narahara).

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  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Idaigaoka 1-1, Hasama-machi, Yufu-shi, Oita, 879-5593, Japan

    Kaei Nasu M.D., Ph.D., Yukie Kawano, Masakazu Nishida, Akitoshi Tsuno, Akitoshi Yuge, Wakana Abe, Kentaro Kai, Mamiko Okamoto & Hisasshi Narahara

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  1. Kaei Nasu M.D., Ph.D.
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  2. Yukie Kawano
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Correspondence to Kaei Nasu M.D., Ph.D. .

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  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago, Tottori, Japan

    Tasuku Harada

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Nasu, K. et al. (2014). Potential New Drugs for Endometriosis: Experimental Evidence. In: Harada, T. (eds) Endometriosis. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54421-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54421-0_16

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