Inflammation in Female Reproductive Health: Double-Edged Sword

Inflammation is the physiological homeostatic response of the body’s innate system to infectious and non-infectious pathogens that alters vascular and immunological cell activity. Acute inflammation is typically protective and self-limiting, but excessive inflammation is recognized as a common factor in many chronic disorders and is therefore a public health issue. During an acute inflammatory response, cellular and molecular interactions efficiently restore tissue homeostasis by coordinated attenuation of initial acute inflammation, resolution of persistent inflammation, and repair of damaged tissue. A persistent low-level unresolved inflammation will develop if the resolution response is insufficiently strong to handle the original acute inflammation spurred by an injury. Numerous physiological female reproductive processes, including ovulation, menstruation, implantation, and the onset of labor, are known to exhibit recognizable indications of inflammation. These are controlled by many molecular mechanisms that involve a plethora of growth factors, chemokines, cytokines, and lipid mediators. Prompt and appropriate resolution of these inflammatory pathways is necessary for physiological reproductive functioning. Nevertheless, the onset and persistence of inflammatory pathways or their dysregulated resolution may contribute to the development of reproductive abnormalities in females. Therapeutic interventions targeting gut microbiota or pro-resolution mediators that aid in inflammation resolution might help in restoring normal reproductive functions and alleviating reproductive disorders.