Karen Pendergrass, Standards Team

The study links lead and cadmium exposure to increased endometriosis risk, emphasizing lead’s role at low blood levels and synergistic effects with cadmium. It advocates for strict monitoring and preventive measures to minimize exposure.

This study quantified metalloestrogens—cadmium, nickel, and lead—in ectopic endometrial tissue, suggesting their role in endometriosis persistence.

This study identifies nickel allergy as an independent risk factor for endometriosis, highlighting shared immune dysregulation and estrogenic pathways. Using a population-based cohort, researchers found a 2.5-fold increased odds of nickel allergy in women with endometriosis, emphasizing the role of environmental exposures in its pathogenesis.

This review explores bacterial iron homeostasis, focusing on detoxification pathways, oxidative stress mitigation, and iron-storage mechanisms. It highlights regulatory proteins like Fur and R and storage proteins like ferritins. These insights provide potential therapeutic targets for limiting bacterial growth and addressing iron-related dysbiosis in host-pathogen interactions.

This review explores the role of trace elements and oxidative stress in endometriosis, highlighting their potential as therapeutic targets. It underscores the need for further research into the trace elements’ roles in endometriotic lesions.

Iron overload in endometriosis contributes to oxidative stress, inflammation, and tissue damage, driving lesion persistence and subfertility. Ferroptosis resistance and dysregulated iron metabolism highlight therapeutic opportunities using iron chelators and modulators.

This study identifies stool-based biomarkers for endometriosis diagnosis and highlights the therapeutic potential of 4-hydroxyindole, a microbiota-derived metabolite, in reducing inflammation and lesion progression.

This study explored oral microbiome-signatures for diagnosing SCC non-invasively. Using 16S rRNA sequencing and machine learning, key taxa differences were identified, enabling a predictive model with 85.7% accuracy. The findings suggest oral microbiota’s potential as a stable biomarker, revolutionizing early, non-invasive cancer detection.

Metabolomics provides insights into the metabolic underpinnings of BD and BS, revealing disease-specific biomarker metabolites linked to gut dysbiosis. These findings pave the way for non-invasive diagnostics and precision medicine.

Endometriosis significantly increases the risk of clear-cell, low-grade serous, and endometrioid ovarian cancers. This study highlights the need for subtype-specific ovarian cancer surveillance and prevention strategies.