EPiC+
Research type
Research Study
Full title
EPiC+: a single site study to determine the distribution of GSTZ1 gene in women with endometriosis related pain.
IRAS ID
310874
Contact name
Lucy Whitaker
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
Endometriosis is where tissue that is usually found on the inside of the womb is found in other structures outside of the womb, most commonly in the pelvic cavity (lower tummy). This often leads to pain and reduced quality of life. Currents treatments are having an operation to remove these lesions, hormones and painkillers. We have carried out a small feasibility study to see if a compound called dicloroacetate (DCA) can help with painful symptoms and perhaps reduce the size of the lesions. We hope to carry out a large study in the future to see if this works. In preparation for this, we found in our feasibility study that some participants experienced side effects. When reading about this compound we have found that some women's bodies process the compound differently and therefore may experience differing levels of side effects. This is down to whether their bodies use the compound quickly or slowly (metabolise). We would like to carry out a study looking at their genes from a blood sample to see how many women are slow and how many women are fast metabolisers. This gene has been identified in previous studies of DCA. This will help us work out how many women we need for the larger study. We will recruit women with endometriosis from gynaecology out-patients departments and ask them (with consent) to give us a blood sample and answer some questionnaires related to their endometriosis. There is no follow-up and there will only be one visit needed for this study.
REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/WM/0158
Date of REC Opinion
17 Aug 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion