PERRICOS Alexandra

Previous University and Subject: Human Medicine, Medical University of Vienna

Thesis since: 03/2019

Flexofytol®, a Curcuma Extract, for the Treatment of Endometriosis-Associated Pain: a Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study

Endometriosis is a benign gynecological estrogen-dependent disease that affects 6-10% of women of reproductive age. Although the clinical presentation varies, the main symptom is pain, be it dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dyschezia or dysuria. While the exact pathophysiology of endometriosis still remains unclear, many studies have underlined the importance of inflammatory processes that seem to be involved in its development. Since endometriosis is a benign disease, one of the primary goals of any treatment is pain relief to date. Treatment options include hormonal treatments or surgical removal of endometriotic lesions. As with any surgery however, there are risks associated with laparoscopic endometriosis surgery, and for women refusing hormonal treatments, options are limited.
In the past years, Curcuma has gained interest in the scientific field due to its antiinflammatory properties. In-vitro studies have also shown promising results when applied to endometriotic lesions. We therefore decided to plan this randomized double-blind placebocontrolled study, comparing the effect of Curcuma capsules in the treatment of endometriosis-associated pain with placebo. Pain is assessed by use of the numeric rating scale (NRS), ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable).
The primary endpoint is the change in the pain score (mean over 5 days with the largest reported pain values out of a period of 28 days) from baseline to four months after treatment start. Secondary endpoints are the change in number of days with pain ≥ NRS 4, the improvement of dyspareunia, dysuria, dyschezia, quality of life and sexual function.

Methods and Skills:

Clinical studies

Publications (selection):

Perricos A, Wenzl R. Efficacy of elagolix in the treatment of endometriosis. Expert Opin Pharmacother 18: 1391-1397, 2017

Perricos A, Ashjaei K, Husslein H, Proestling K, Kuessel L, Obwegeser R, Wenzl R, Yotova I. Increased serum levels of mBDNF in women with minimal and mild endometriosis have no predictive power for the disease. Exp Biol Med 243: 50-56, 2018

Hudson QJ, Perricos A, Wenzl R, Yotova I. Challenges in uncovering non-invasive biomarkers of endometriosis. Exp Biol Med 245: 437-447, 2020

Hudson QJ, Ashjaei K, Perricos A, Kuessel L, Husslein H, Wenzl R, Yotova I. Endometriosis patients show an increased M2 response in the peritoneal CD14^+low/CD68^+low macrophage subpopulation coupled with an increase in the T-helper 2 and T-regulatory cells. Reprod Sci 2020, online ahead of print.

Perricos A, Wenzl R, Husslein H, Eiwegger T, Gstoettner M, Weinhaeusel A, Beikircher G, Kuessel L. Does the Use of the "Proseek® Multiplex Oncology I Panel" on Peritoneal Fluid Allow a Better Insight in the Pathophysiology of Endometriosis, and in Particular Deep-Infiltrating Endometriosis? J Clin Med 9: 2009, 2020