Effects of bazedoxifene on endometriosis in experimental animal models: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective:
Endometriosis is a prevalent condition in women that causes pelvic pain and fertility issues due to the growth of endometrial tissue outside the uterus during menstrual cycles. Since steroid hormones play a crucial role in the development and growth of endometriosis lesions, researchers have investigated several effective drugs that target hormones for treating this disease. One such drug is Bazedoxifene, but despite several animal studies, there has yet to be a comprehensive evaluation of their combined results.
Materials and Methods:
A systematic search was conducted across several databases (Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Sciences) to identify the studies investigating the effectiveness of bazedoxifene on animal models of endometriosis. Meta-analysis was performed using the size of endometriosis implants before and after drug administration in case and control groups, along with the p-value of the associations. Begg's and Egger's tests were used to assess publication bias.
Results:
This research included four eligible studies consisting of 45 endometrial animal models and 35 control subjects. The meta-analysis shows that bazedoxifene significantly reduces the size of endometriosis implants in animal models when compared to the control group (OR: 0.122, 95% CI: 0.050-0.298, P < 0.001). Detailed investigation determined that there is no significant heterogeneity between the studies (I2=38.81, and P-value of the Q test=0.179). However, according to Egger's test, the study showed publication bias (P= 0.035).
Conclusion:
This study found that bazedoxifene is a promising treatment option for endometriosis in animal models. However, more research on animals and humans is needed to confirm these results.