Yang FC, Zhou Y, Zhang SY, Ma R. Depression and anxiety in patients with endometriosis-associated chronic pain: Neuroimmune mechanisms mediated by inflammatory factors. World J Psychiatry 2025; 15(10): 107147 [DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i10.107147]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Rui Ma, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, No. 301 Yanchang Middle Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai 200072, China. ruima127@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Psychiatry
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Cohort Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Psychiatry. Oct 19, 2025; 15(10): 107147 Published online Oct 19, 2025. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v15.i10.107147
Depression and anxiety in patients with endometriosis-associated chronic pain: Neuroimmune mechanisms mediated by inflammatory factors
Fan-Chun Yang, Yang Zhou, Shi-Yun Zhang, Rui Ma
Fan-Chun Yang, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai East Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai 200120, China
Yang Zhou, Shi-Yun Zhang, Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China
Rui Ma, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200072, China
Co-first authors: Fan-Chun Yang and Yang Zhou.
Author contributions: Yang FC and Zhou Y contributed equally to this article, they are the co-first authors of this manuscript; Yang FC, Zhou Y, and Ma R contributed to the analysis of the manuscript, they were involved in the data analysis and writing of this article; Zhang SY and Yang FC are jointly responsible for data collection, design research, and have made equal contributions to this article; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, approval No. SHSY-IEC-6.0/25K132/P01.
Informed consent statement: As this study was a retrospective one, informed consent forms were waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: If you need data, please contact the corresponding author.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rui Ma, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, No. 301 Yanchang Middle Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai 200072, China. ruima127@163.com
Received: May 23, 2025 Revised: June 24, 2025 Accepted: August 19, 2025 Published online: October 19, 2025 Processing time: 125 Days and 23.9 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Endometriosis-associated chronic pain is frequently accompanied by depression and anxiety, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study highlights the role of inflammatory biomarkers, including interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, C-reactive protein, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor, in mediating these psychological comorbidities. Higher inflammatory marker levels correlate with increased pain severity and psychological distress. These findings suggest a neuroimmune link between endometriosis and mental health conditions, providing potential therapeutic targets. Addressing inflammation may improve both physical and psychological symptoms, emphasizing the need for an integrated treatment approach in managing endometriosis patients.
