EFFECT OF ENDOMETRIOSIS ON FERTILITY IN A MURINE MODEL.

BILOTAS M; OLIVARES C; RICCI A; MERESMAN G; BARAÑAO RI

Congreso; XII Jornadas anuales de la Sociedad Argentina de Biología (SAB); 2010

Introduction: One of the most intriguing aspects of EDT is its association with infertility when there is no mechanical alteration of the reproductive tract. Traditionally, pregnancy has been considered to be beneficial for patients with EDT leading to the atrophy of the endometritotic implants. However other authors have reported only symptomatic relief of the disease with pregnancy. Objective: Evaluate the effect of EDT on fertility in a murine model of EDT. Methodology: EDT was surgically induced in female C57BL mice. Four weeks after surgery animals were mated until the presence of vaginal plug. Animals were sacrificed on day 18 of pregnancy. After sacrifice, EDT-like lesions were counted and their size measured. The number of pups, pups weight, and number of implantation sites were evaluated. Results: The time from mating until the presence of vaginal plug was similar between animals with EDT and sham animals. However, the pregnancy rate in mice with EDT was reduced. There were no significant differences between animals with EDT and sham animals in the number of pups per mouse and in the pups weight. There were no significant differences in the number of lesions per mouse in pregnant compared to nonpregnant mice. However, the lesions size was significantly increased in pregnant mice compared to non-pregnant ones. Discussion: These results suggest that EDT affects fertility in mice and support the use of this murine model to evaluate EDT associated infertility.