Chronic inflammation is the cause and effect in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Characterized as an imbalance of various kinds of cytokines and deficient immune-surveillance in the peritoneal cavity, endo- metriosis creates its own system to maintain the surviv- al of endometriotic cells outside of the uterus. Char- acteristics of the cells present in the microenvironment including immune cells and endometriotic cells have been changed by cytokines and other protein molecules, which are the critical keys that determine the develop- ment of the disease. In this review, we will focus on the effects from the inflammation-related factors on the phenotypic changes in cells in the pathogenesis of endo- metriosis to discuss.

Key Words: chronic inflammation, endometriosis, pro- inflammatory cytokines, prostaglandins