Uterine leiomyoma as useful model to unveil morphometric and macromolecular collagen state and impairment in fibrotic diseases: An ex-vivo human study.

Collagen is one of the main components of the extracellular matrix (ECM), involved, among all, in the maintenance of the structural support of tissues. In fibrotic diseases, collagen is overexpressed, and its production determines the formation of a significantly stiffer ECM. The cross-linking of high-resolution analytical tools, able to investigate both the tridimensional organization and the secondary structure of collagen in fibrotic diseases, could be useful to identify defined markers correlating the status of this protein with specific pathological conditions. To this purpose, an innovative multidisciplinary approach based on Phase-Contrast MicroComputed Tomography, Transmission Electron Microscopy, and Fourier Transform Infrared Imaging Spectroscopy was exploited on leiomyoma samples and adjacent myometrium to characterize microstructural collagen features. Uterine leiomyoma is a common gynecological disorder affecting women in fertile age. It is characterized by a massive collagen production due to the repairing processes occurring at myometrium level, and, hence, it represents a valuable model to investigate collagen self-organization in a pathological condition. Moreover, to evaluate the sensitivity of this multidisciplinary approach, the effects of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) omega-3 fatty acids in collagen reduction were also investigated.

Phytoprogestins: Unexplored Food Compounds with Potential Preventive and Therapeutic Effects in Female Diseases.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in natural therapies to prevent or treat female diseases. In particular, many studies have focused on searching natural compounds with less side effects than standard hormonal therapies. While phytoestrogen-based therapies have been extensively studied, treatments with phytoprogestins reported in the literature are very rare. In this review, we focused on compounds of natural origin, which have progestin effects and that could be good candidates for preventing and treating female diseases. We identified the following phytoprogestins: kaempferol, apigenin, luteolin, and naringenin. In vitro studies showed promising results such as the antitumoral effects of kaempferol, apigenin and luteolin, and the anti-fibrotic effects of naringenin. Although limited data are available, it seems that phytoprogestins could be a promising tool for preventing and treating hormone-dependent diseases.