Advances in molecular mechanisms of intrauterine adhesions

Abstract

Intrauterine adhesions (IUA) is a refractory disease affecting female reproductive health. With the development of medicine, the etiology of IUA has been further studied. At present, the high risk factors that can lead to IUA include: curettage after pregnancy, post-caesarean section, trophoblastocyte disease curettage, postpartum hemorrhage curettage, diagnostic curettage, hysteroscopic surgery, intrauterine device placement, reproductive tract tuberculosis infection, Müllerian duct malformation, etc. Endometrial fibrosis is a main pathological feature. After various signals stimulate different molecular signaling pathways, various growth factors and cytokines interact with each other in vivo to promote the development of fibrosis, which ultimately lead to the occurrence of IUA. At present the current clinical treatment and prevention of IUA is not ideal, especially for moderate and severe IUA. Therefore, the research of the pathogenesis may support the targeted therapy for IUA. This paper aims to review the recent progress in the etiology and molecular mechanism of IUA.

Keywords

• intrauterine adhesion|curettage|molecular mechanism|tgf-β1