February 24, 2023
Endometriosis is a painful condition that can severely impact the lives of people who menstruate. It causes tissue that normally grows within the uterus to grow elsewhere in the body, resulting in inflammation, pain and excessive bleeding. Worldwide, an estimated 10% of people who menstruate and are of reproductive age live with endometriosis, although this this condition can be very challenging, and invasive, to diagnose. While some treatment options exist, they leave a lot to be desired, being either invasive surgical interventions, or hormone treatments that do little to reverse existing damage.
Thankfully a team in Japan believes they may have made a breakthrough. Researchers from Chugai Pharmaceutical Company have developed an antibody therapy (known as AMY109) that can shrink the lesions growing outside of the uterus – something existing therapies can’t do. The researchers investigated 250 genes linked with inflammation, and identified a molecule called interleukin-8 was elevated in endometriosis sufferers. The AMY109 antibody acts by blocking the signal of interleukin-8, thereby stopping the body’s inflammatory response.
The current study has been conducted in animals so further stringent testing will be required before this anybody therapy can begin any trials in humans. In the meantime, these promising early results provide hope for millions of endometriosis sufferers that one day there will be a more effective treatment option for this debilitating condition.
Source: ScienceAlert
Learn more: https://www.sciencealert.com/experimental-surgery-free-treatment-shrinks-endometriosis-lesions-in-animals/amp