Abstract
BACKGROUND: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory, benign disorder that often co-occurs with adenomyosis and/or leiomyoma. The overall incidence of endometriosis in reproductive period women was nearly 10%. However, the exact mechanisms of endometriosis-associated pathogenesis are still unknown. METHODS: In this study, we aimed to investigate whether Frizzled-7 (FZD7) would effectively promote the development of endometriosis. The microarray-based data analysis was performed to screen endometriosis-related differentially expressed genes. This process uncovered specific hub genes, and the nexus of vital genes and ferroptosis-related genes were pinpointed. Then, we collected human endometrial and endometriotic tissues from patients with endometriosis of the ovary (n = 39) and control patients without endometriosis (n = 10, who underwent hysterectomy for uterine fibroids) to compare the expression of FZD7. RESULTS: These findings indicated that the expression of FZD7 was high compared with normal endometrium, and FZD7 may promote the progression of endometriosis. CONCLUSION: FZD7 may serve as a potential therapeutic target for endometriosis treatment.