Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026
Noninvasive Monitoring of Lesion Size in a Heterologous Mouse Model of Endometriosis
Published on: February 26, 2019
Development and prevention of postsurgical adhesions in a chimeric mouse model of experimental endometriosis
Jennifer L Herington1, Marta A Crispens, Alessandra C Carvalho-Macedo
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Women's Reproductive Health Research Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
Objective:
To examine the impact of a recent surgery on development of endometriosis-related adhesions in a chimeric model and to determine the therapeutic efficacy of pioglitazone (PIO).
Design:
Human endometrial biopsies were maintained in E(2) with or without PIO for 24 h before intraperitoneal injection into immunocompromised mice also treated with or without PIO at multiple time points after peritoneal surgery. The presence and extent of adhesions were examined in animals relative to the initial establishment of experimental endometriosis.
Setting:
Medical school research center.
Patient(S):
Endometrial biopsies for experimental studies were provided by normally cycling women without a medical history indicative of endometriosis or adhesions.
Intervention(S):
None.
Main Outcome Measure(S):
Examination of the development of endometriosis-related adhesions in an experimental model.
Result(S):
Without therapeutic intervention, injection of E(2)-treated human endometrial tissue into mice near the time of peritoneal surgery resulted in multiple adhesions and extensive endometriotic-like disease. In contrast, PIO treatment reduced adhesive disease and experimental endometriosis related to surgical injury.
Conclusion(S):
The presence of human endometrial tissue fragments in the peritoneal cavity of mice with a recent surgical injury promoted development of both adhesive disease and experimental endometriosis. Targeting inflammation and angiogenesis with PIO therapy limited the development of postsurgical adhesions associated with ectopic endometrial growth.
