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Updated: May 28, 2026
Mouse Model of Surgically-induced Endometriosis by Auto-transplantation of Uterine Tissue
Published on: January 6, 2012
Effect of anti-TNF-α on peritoneal endometrial implants of rats
William Kondo1, Eduardo Andreazza dal Lago, Lucia de Noronha
1Division of Health Sciences at the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Brazil. williamkondo@yahoo.com
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of anti-TNF-α in the treatment of endometrial implants in the peritoneum of rats.
Methods:
Endometrial implants were surgically induced in 120 female Wistar-Albino rats. The animals were randomly divided into four groups. Group C (n = 36) received an intraperitoneal injection of 0.2 ml of saline. Group L (n = 41) received a subcutaneous injection of 1mg/kg of leuprolide. Group I5 (n = 20) received a subcutaneous injection of 5mg/kg of monoclonal anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) a (infliximab). Group I10 (n = 20) received a subcutaneous injection of 10mg/kg of infliximab. The rats were sacrificed after 21 days to assess the size of the implants and the expression of TNF.
Results:
Treatment with leuprolide (group L) promoted an absolute reduction in the surface area of the implant when compared with group C (+14 mm vs. 0mm, p = 0.013) and group I10 (+14 mm vs. +5 Mm, p = 0.018). Likewise, a percentage reduction of surface area of the implant was observed comparing group L with group C (+33.3% vs. 0%, p = 0.005) and group I10 (+33.3% vs. +18.3%, p = 0.027). Treatment with infliximab was not able to decrease the surface area of the implants when compared with group C. The expression of TNF-α in groups L, I5 and I10 was lower than in group C (505.6 mm(2) vs. 660.5 mm(2) vs. 317.2 mm(2) vs. 2519.3 mm(2), respectively; p <0.001).
Conclusion:
The anti-TNF-α therapy reduced the expression of TNF-α in endometriotic implants, but did not reduce the surface area of the lesion.
