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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Mouse Model of Surgically-induced Endometriosis by Auto-transplantation of Uterine Tissue
Published on: January 6, 2012
Intraperitoneal and subcutaneous treatment of experimental endometriosis with recombinant human interferon-alpha-2b
J M Ingelmo1, F Quereda, P Acién
1Department of Gynecology, Miguel Hernández University, Campus of San Juan, Alicante, Spain.
Objective:
To determine the effect of human interferon (IFN)-alpha-2b on experimental endometriosis in rats.
Design:
Experimental, controlled, double-blind randomized study.
Setting:
Experimental surgery laboratory in a university department.
Animal(S):
Ninety-six Wistar rats with endometriosis, induced by transplanting four endometrial fragments into the peritoneal cavity.
Intervention(S):
One third of the animals served as controls (group A). The others were randomly divided into two groups and were given IFN-alpha-2b either as a single intraperitoneal dose (group B) or as three SC doses (on alternate days) (group C).
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Laparotomy was performed to measure the size of each implant at various times (days 0, 6, 12, 20, and 120 after treatment).
Result(S):
There were no differences among the groups in the size of the average implants before IFN was administered (17.3+/-6.7, 19.7+/-7.8, and 18.1+/-9.2 mm for groups A, B, and C, respectively). These values were significantly smaller after treatment in group B (14.9+/-8.0 mm) and group C (14.0+/-9.5 mm) than in the control group (17.6+/-7.5 mm) (P<.05). Intraperitoneal IFN produced an initial maximum decrease in the size of the implants (40% reduction on day 6), which diminished until day 20 (20%) and then was maintained on a plateau until day 120 (25%). By contrast, group C showed an initial minimal reduction (13% at day 6), which increased up to day 20 (19%), after which a plateau was reached (23% at day 120). Thus, the effects in both treatment groups were similar in the long term.
Conclusion(S):
Two short regimens of human IFN-alpha-2b reduced the size of experimental endometriosis in rats.
