Analysis of microbiota reveals the underlying mechanism of PHF11 in the development of Enterococcus-regulated endometriotic cysts

Summary: Endometriosis (EMS) is a prevalent disease and the etiologies has not uniform. Microbiota is associated with human diseases. To delve into the relationship between EMS and microbiota, Ectopic (EM) and eutopic (EU) endometrial tissues, pharyngeal swabs, and stools were collected from EMS patients. The microbiota composition of EM and EU partially overlapped, with similar taxon numbers and diversity, but the richness levels were significantly different. A comparison of intestinal microbes in healthy individuals (FN) and EMS patients (FE) revealed that the richness of Enterococcus, Pseudomonas, Haemophilus, and Neisseria was enhanced in FE. In addition, Enterococcus-induced mice (EFA) presented with a higher degree of lesion infiltration and a wider distribution of lesions. Proteomic analysis revealed the expression of plant homeodomain finger 11 (PHF11) was notably downregulated in EFA. And the downregulated expression of PHF11 was accompanied by the upregulated expression of interleukin 8 (IL-8). Our findings suggest a potential regulatory mechanism for PHF11 in EMS development.