Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Jun 6;25(11):6266.
doi: 10.3390/ijms25116266.

Immune Checkpoints in Endometriosis-A New Insight in the Pathogenesis

Dorota Suszczyk  1 , Wiktoria Skiba  1 , Anna Pawłowska-Łachut  1 , Izabela Dymanowska-Dyjak  2 , Karolina Włodarczyk  1 , Roman Paduch  3 , Iwona Wertel  1
Affiliations
Review

Immune Checkpoints in Endometriosis-A New Insight in the Pathogenesis

Dorota Suszczyk et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Endometriosis (EMS) is an oestrogen-dependent, chronic disease affecting women of a reproductive age. One of the important factors involved in the development of this disease is the complex disorders associated with the functioning of the immune system. Recent evidence has shown that EMS development is associated with changes in systemic and local immunity, including functional disturbances of effector and antigen-presenting cells. One of the reasons for immune imbalance can be the improper expression of immune checkpoints (ICPs). ICPs and their ligands are responsible for maintaining self-tolerance and the modulation of the initiation, duration, and magnitude of the immune response of effector cells in normal tissues to avoid tissue damage. Considering the complex nature of co-stimulatory or co-inhibitory ICPs and the signalling between effector cells and APCs, we hypothesise that changes in cells' activity caused by ICPs may lead to serious immune system disturbances in patients with endometriosis. Moreover, both upregulation and downregulation in the expression of ICPs may be implicated in this process, including the reduced activity of effector cells against endometrial implants and disturbances in the antigen-presenting process. In this narrative review, we discuss, for the first time, key findings from the emerging literature, describing the associations between ICPs and their possible implication in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Keywords: endometriosis; immune cells; immune checkpoints; immunosuppression.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The possible role of ICPs in the pathogenesis and progression of endometriosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The future perspectives of ICPs in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Saunders P.T., Horne A.W. Endometriosis: Etiology, pathobiology, and therapeutic prospects. Cell. 2021;184:2807–2824. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.041. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zippl A.L., Reiser E., Seeber B. Endometriosis and Mental Health Disorders: Identification and treatment as part of a multimodal approach. Fertil. Steril. 2023;3:370–378. doi: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.12.033. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lamceva J., Uljanovs R., Strumfa I. The main theories on the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023;24:4254. doi: 10.3390/ijms24054254. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Laganà A.S., Garzon S., Götte M., Viganò P., Franchi M., Ghezzi F., Martin D.C. The pathogenesis of endometriosis: Molecular and cell biology insights. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019;20:5615. doi: 10.3390/ijms20225615. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sourial S., Tempest N., Hapangama D.K. Theories on the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Int. J. Reprod. Med. 2014;2014:179515. doi: 10.1155/2014/179515. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Substances