Journal of International Obstetrics and Gynecology ›› 2025, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (6): 618-623.doi: 10.12280/gjfckx.20250766

• Gynecological Disease & Related Research: Review • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research Progress on Autophagy in Endometrial Diseases

LIU Hui-shan, CHEN Xing, DAI Hui-hua()   

  1. Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China
  • Received:2025-07-11 Published:2025-12-15 Online:2025-12-30
  • Contact: DAI Hui-hua E-mail:daihuihua65@163.com

Abstract:

Autophagy is a highly conserved intracellular degradation and recycling process. Its core mechanism is to degrade the damaged, senescent or redundant biomacromolecules and organelles within the cell through the lysosomal system and reuse the degradation products to maintain cellular homeostasis. Recent studies have shown that changes in autophagy levels affect the occurrence and development of various endometrial diseases, including endometriosis (EMs), endometrial cancer, and intrauterine adhesions (IUA). Autophagy shows bidirectional regulatory characteristics in the occurrence and development of EMs and endometrial cancer, which may either promote or inhibit the progression of the diseases. The level of autophagy is down regulated during the development of IUA. This review summarizes the roles and mechanisms of autophagy in these diseases and explores its potential clinical applications, aiming to provide new ideas for future research.

Key words: Autophagy, Endometrium, Endometriosis, Endometrial neoplasms, Intrauterine adhesion