Investigation of the Therapeutic Effect of Salbutamol on Endometriosis in a Mouse Model

Endometriosis is an immune chronic inflammatory disease, and there are currently no more effective drugs for treating endometriosis due to its unknown etiology. Salbutamol is a β2-adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonist commonly used to treat asthma by selectively activating β2 receptors on airway smooth muscle and leukocytes, exerting bronchial dilation and synergistic anti-inflammatory effects. In recent years, β2AR agonists have been used in endometriosis studies, and we speculate that salbutamol may have a therapeutic effect on endometriosis. The purpose of this research was to explore the therapeutic effect of salbutamol on endometriosis mice. The mouse endometriosis model was established and treated with different doses of salbutamol. Endometrial lesions were harvested for pathological diagnosis, immunohistochemistry (IHC), Masson staining, and toluidine blue analysis. We found that the number and size of endometriotic lesions were all significantly decreased after 3 weeks of treatment with different doses of salbutamol on endometriosis model mice (P < 0.05). After Salbutamol treatment, the amount of mast cells (toluidine blue) and macrophages (F4/80) in the lesions as well as the expressions of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-ɑ, platelet-derived growth factor subunit B (PDGFB), CD31, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, Masson staining, BCL2, TUBB3, substance P (SP), and nerve growth factor (NGF) were significantly reduced (P < 0.05). These results suggested that salbutamol could effectively treat endometriosis in mice by reducing immune inflammatory cells and factors, angiogenesis, and fibrosis, increasing apoptosis of endometriotic lesions, and decreasing neurogenesis.