Activation of the Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) to S1P1 Receptor Subtype (S1PR1) Axis in Patients With Endometriosis: Identification of Potential Relevant Biomarkers to Diagnose and Treat

Patients seen at the SLUCare Center for Endometriosis (including those with or without pain) undergoing laser excision surgery for known or suspected endometriosis will be recruited for the study. Per the PI's standard surgical approach to endometriosis, all areas of abnormal peritoneum will be excised (removed). After surgical excision has been performed, in order to provide standardized specimens for our research, a 3mm punch biopsy will be obtained from the excised peritoneum tissue. The 3 mm biopsy will be sent for research analysis, and the rest of the excised peritoneum tissue will be sent to histology (SSM) for evaluation and classification as having endometriosis or not. For each patient in the study, blood will also be collected to look for markers for endometriosis.