NCT04085835

Evolution of Menstruation

Evolution and Genetic Basis of Menstruation in Women

• Status: Completed
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 21 (actual)
• Sponsor: Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France · Other Government
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years – 45 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study examines gene expression and gene regulation in the uterine lining during menses in women, for evolutionary comparison with other primates which do or do not menstruate. Samples will be obtained by non-invasive collection of menstrual fluid from healthy donors.

Detailed description

Menstruation corresponds to the shedding of the uterine lining when fecundation has not occurred. This is a recent evolutionary innovation in primates, and the cellular and genetic changes that led to the acquisition of menstruation are not well understood. Additionally, the uterine lining is poorly characterized in humans at the menstrual time point, which hinders both evolutionary and medically-relevant analyses. In this study, the research team are collecting menstrual fluid samples from healthy female volunteers to profile gene expression and gene regulatory elements in the major cell types that compose the uterine lining during menstruation. The investigators will compare this data to similar samples collected from other primates at the same time point in the female hormonal cycle. The objective is to identify genes that have acquired novel regulation and/or expression patterns and which may be involved in menstruation.

Conditions

• Menstruation

Timeline

• Start date: 2020-10-27
• Primary completion: 2025-04-27
• Completion: 2025-04-27
• First posted: 2019-09-11
• Last updated: 2025-10-06

Locations

1 site across 1 country: France