Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Department of Pathology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, 03101 Vilnius, Lithuania.
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Feb 14;24(4):3809. doi: 10.3390/ijms24043809.
Oxidative stress (OS) plays an important role in a variety of physiological and pathological processes of the female reproductive system. In recent years the relationship between OS and endometriosis has been of particular interest, and a theory has been suggested that OS may be a cause of endometriosis development. While the link between endometriosis and infertility is well established, minimal or mild stages of endometriosis are not considered to cause infertility. Increasing evidence of OS as a leading agent in the development of endometriosis has brought up a theory of minimal/mild endometriosis itself being one of the manifestations of high OS rather than a separate disease which directly causes infertility. Moreover, further development of the disease is thought to contribute to an increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) thus leading to the progression of endometriosis itself as well as to other pathological processes in the female reproductive system. Therefore, in case of minimal or mild endometriosis, the less invasive treatment could be offered in order to stop the ongoing cycle of endometriosis-reinforced excess ROS production and to reduce their harmful effects. In this article the existing connection between OS, endometriosis, and infertility is explored.
氧化应激（OS）在女性生殖系统的各种生理和病理过程中起着重要作用。近年来，OS 与子宫内膜异位症之间的关系引起了特别关注，有理论认为 OS 可能是子宫内膜异位症发展的原因。虽然子宫内膜异位症与不孕之间的联系已经得到证实，但轻度或轻微的子宫内膜异位症并不被认为会导致不孕。越来越多的证据表明，OS 是子宫内膜异位症发展的主要因素，这就提出了一个理论，即轻度子宫内膜异位症本身就是 OS 升高的表现之一，而不是直接导致不孕的独立疾病。此外，疾病的进一步发展被认为会导致活性氧（ROS）的产生增加，从而导致子宫内膜异位症本身以及女性生殖系统的其他病理过程的进展。因此，对于轻度或轻微的子宫内膜异位症，可以提供侵袭性较小的治疗方法，以阻止正在进行的子宫内膜异位症强化过多 ROS 产生的循环，并减少其有害影响。本文探讨了 OS、子宫内膜异位症和不孕之间的现有联系。
