Effect of herbal medicine on inflammation, angiogenesis and apoptotic resistance

CONICET has previously demondtrated a beneficial therapeutic effect of the natural compounds Wogonin (WG), an active constituent of Chinese Herbal Medicine, and two of the main antioxidant compounds found in rosemary extract: CA and RA, on the development of experimental endometriosis both in vitro and in vivo. CA, RA and WG inhibited significantly cell proliferation in human endometrial stromal cell line T-HESC, and in primary cultures. In a Balb/c-based murine model, these compounds diminished significantly the development of endometriotic-like lesions, reducing considerably its size. Moreover, all compounds decreased endometriotic epithelial and stromal cell proliferation evaluated by immunohistochemistry for PCNA (71,72). Based on these promising results, the following objectives will be addressed in this WP, in collaboration with CHARITE, and UEDIN: (i) To evaluate the effect of these natural compounds on apoptosis in T-HESC cell line and primary cultures. (ii) To evaluate the effect of these compounds on expression and activity of COX-2 and the NFkB pathway in an in vitro model of endometriosis, with particular relevance to WP1 (inflammatory microenvironment), (iii) regarding antioxidant effects in vitro and in vivo, on experimental endometriosis and (iv) on angiogenesis