ReviewReproductive medicine and biology2018
Bacterial contamination hypothesis: a new concept in endometriosis.
Review in Reproductive medicine and biology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 97 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
97 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 168 citations in OpenAlex.
- An Overview of Essential Nutritional Strategies and Products in the Treatment of Endometriosis.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- The Microbiome Landscape of Adenomyosis: A Systematic Review.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2025Pooled it
- Association between endometriosis and gut microbiota: systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Pooled it
- Correlation between dysbiosis of vaginal microecology and endometriosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- The deviations of CD4 + T cells during peripheral blood and peritoneal fluid of endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2023Pooled it
- Gut and Vaginal Microbiota in the Endometriosis: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.BioMed research international · 2023Pooled it
- Pelvic peritoneal endometriosis is linked to the endometrial inflammatory profile: a prospective cohort study.BMC women's health · 2025Trial
- The clinical outcome of Dienogest treatment followed by in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer in infertile women with endometriosis.Journal of ovarian research · 2019Trial
- Review
- Exploring the Possible Role of Endometriosis-Associated Dysbiosis in Endometrial Carcinogenesis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Review
- Review
- Microbiota-metabolite axis in endometriosis: Pathogenic mechanisms and clinical implications.Journal of biomedical research · 2026Article
- Emerging signal transduction pathways and the role of bacterial extracellular vesicles linked to the pathogenesis of endometriosis.Communications medicine · 2026Review
- Epigenetics, Oxidative Stress, and the Microbiome in Endometriosis: Toward an Integrated Mechanistic Framework for Precision Medicine.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Review
- Bacterial microbiome analysis of vaginal, cervical, and endometrial samples in patients with adenomyosis during the window of implantation.Microbiology spectrum · 2026Article
- Advances in the Role of Endometrial Microbiota Alterations in the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Review
- Advances in the Role of Endometrial Microbiota Alterations in the Pathogenesis of Endometriosis.Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) · 2026Review
- Immunometabolic-uterine-ovarian interactions and flushing therapy in dairy cows: a narrative review.Veterinary world · 2026Review
- Resource landscape shapes the composition and stability of the human vaginal microbiota.PLoS biology · 2026Article
- The Role of Chronic Endometritis in Endometriosis: A Personalized Diagnostic Tool?Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
37 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEndometriosis is a multifactorial disease that mainly affects women of reproductive age. The exact pathogenesis of this disease is still debatable. The role of bacterial endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide, LPS) and Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in endometriosis were investigated and the possible source of endotoxin in the pelvic environment was examined.
methodsThe limulus amoebocyte lysate test was used to measure the endotoxin levels in the menstrual fluid and peritoneal fluid and their potential role in the growth of endometriosis was investigated. Menstrual blood and endometrial samples were cultured for the presence of microbes. The effect of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) treatment on intrauterine microbial colonization (IUMC) and the occurrence of endometritis was investigated. MAIN FINDINGS
resultsLipopolysaccharide regulates the pro-inflammatory response in the pelvis and growth of endometriosis via the LPS/TLR4 cascade. The menstrual blood was highly contaminated with
conclusionFor the first time, a new concept called the "bacterial contamination hypothesis" is proposed in endometriosis. This study's findings of IUMC in women with endometriosis could hold new therapeutic potential in addition to the conventional estrogen-suppressing agent.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.