Recent research has noted an association between endometriosis and certain autoimmune disorders, such as systemic lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease.[1] However, this association presents more questions than answers: It is difficult to establish which disease process started first, especially since endometriosis diagnoses are often delayed. Furthermore, we do not yet know whether the presence of endometriosis might lead to other autoimmune disorders (or vice versa), or whether these illnesses might share similar underlying causative pathophysiologies or genetic links.[2]
That said, there is some preliminary evidence that immunotherapy could be used to treat endometriosis in the future. The immune system and its components, including neutrophils, macrophages, T-cells, mast cells, and many more, seem to play a role in the development of endometriosis, which implies that some treatments usually used for autoimmune conditions, such as interferons or antitumor necrosis factor, could be used in endometriosis. While the current research is promising, a lot more work needs to be done before immunotherapy could become a regular part of the treatment for endometriosis.[3][2]
References
- ^Hamouda RK, Arzoun H, Sahib I, Escudero Mendez L, Srinivasan M, Shoukrie SI, Dhanoa RK, Selvaraj R, Malla J, Selvamani TY, Zahra A, Venugopal S, Mohammed LThe Comorbidity of Endometriosis and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Systematic Review.Cureus.(2023-Jul)
- ^Shigesi N, Kvaskoff M, Kirtley S, Feng Q, Fang H, Knight JC, Missmer SA, Rahmioglu N, Zondervan KT, Becker CMThe association between endometriosis and autoimmune diseases: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Hum Reprod Update.(2019-Jul-01)
- ^Li W, Lin A, Qi L, Lv X, Yan S, Xue J, Mu NImmunotherapy: A promising novel endometriosis therapy.Front Immunol.(2023)