Quantifying inflammatory resolution in human menstruation reveals disease-specific failure modes and enables a non-invasive diagnostic for endometriosis.

ABSTRACT: Inflammatory resolution is essential for tissue health, yet its dynamics remain difficult to study in humans. Menstruation is a recurrent, non-pathological inflammatory process that provides a natural window into inflammation and repair. We developed and validated a standardized menstrual sampling and RNA-seq workflow, analyzing more than 1,000 samples from over 300 individuals. We show that menstrual transcriptomes are dominated by two major biological confounders: heterogeneous tissue composition and rapid temporal progression. We introduce tissue-aware transcriptional axes that quantify uterine enrichment and an Inflammatory Resolution Score (IRS) that positions samples along an inflammation-to-repair trajectory independent of tissue admixture. In healthy individuals, IRS defines a cons

SUBMITTER: Gire S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12838314 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature