The ExPAND Study: A Prospective Association Study into Endometriosis-Associated Pain, Neurosteroid Synthesis, and TRPM3.

ABSTRACT: Endometriosis-associated pain has debilitating effects on the quality of life of patients. Despite its high prevalence in reproductive-aged women, the pathophysiology is still unknown, impeding the development of targeted treatment approaches. The prospective ExPAND study proposes the neurosteroids pregnenolone sulphate (PS) and dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEAS) as potential contributors to endometriosis-associated pain, due to their agonistic action at the pain-related ion channel TRPM3. To this end, endometrium, deep endometriosis lesions, and peritoneal fluid were prospectively collected in four demarcated patient groups, which were characterised based on their pain symptoms, as scored via the WERF-EPHect questionnaire, i.e., (1) control (n = 44), (2) endometriosis patients

SUBMITTER: Persoons E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12563993 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature