Mineral ions in the management of endometriosis pain

Abstract

Background A number of minerals have been implicated in management of endometriotic pain, Some of the ions include magnesium, calcium and Zinc. Of the three minerals, zinc has been found to play a very important role in relieving pain associated with endometriosis. Zinc metal is one of the most abundant trace element which plays a major role in genetic stability and function. It is normally present in many parts of the cell which include cell nucleus, nucleolus and chromosomes whereby it is involved in stabilization of DNA structure and RNA structure. In the cytoplasm, zinc metal is involved in stabilizing the ribosomes and it forms part of many proteins and enzymes. 2. Objective This study sought to investigate the role of zinc metal in the management of endometriosis pain through measurement of prostaglandins in endometriotic and endometrial cell line supernatants and serum samples. 3. Methods Immortalized human endometrial stromal (T-HESC), endometriotic stromal (22B) and epithelial (12ZVK) cell lines were used. Cell Stimulation was done with various concentrations of zinc metal and various concentration of fetal calf serum (FCS) to optimize the best zinc dosage and media for optimal growth. Then we collected the cell line supernatants and serum from patients who were taking zinc metal to relieve endometriotic associated pain and also we used serum from controls. In addition, we measured levels of Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and PGF2 in supernatants from cells treated with Zinc metal and serum from patients and controls. 4. Results From the results, 5μM zinc concentration and 1% FCS concentration were found to be optimal for cell growth. Interestingly, endometriotic serum samples secreted higher levels of PGE2 in comparison with controls. But on comparison of PGE2 secretion in patients with high pain/low pain and on pills/without pills gave contradicting results which were not

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significant. Of note, PGF2 secretion in serum obtained from endometriotic patients and controls showed no any significant difference. 5. Conclusions In conclusion, our study showed significant secretion of PGE2 by cell line supernatants upon treatment with 5μM zinc concentration hence underscoring the importance of zinc in pain relief. Although we used a small sample size, it provided us with a glimpse of the role of zinc metal in management of endometriosis pain, thus more samples are needed to obtain a better significant data, nevertheless, the results obtained formed a basis for further experiments.