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PRINCIPAL PUBLICATION AND AUTHORS

Detention and mapping of iron and toxic environmental elements in human ovarian endometriosis: A suggested combined role, L. Pascolo (a), M. Pachetti (a), A. Camillo (b), A. Cernogoraz (c), C. Rizzardi (d), K. Vogel Mikus (e,f), F. Zanconati (d), M. Salomé (g), V. Tardillo Suárez (g), F. Romano (a), G. Zito (a), A. Gianoncelli (h), G. Ricci (a,d), Sci. Total. Environ. 864, 161028 (2023); https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.161028 (a) Institute for Maternal and Child Health, IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste (Italy) (b) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, AOUI Verona, Verona (Italy) (c) Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, F. Del Ponte Hospital, University of Insubria, Varese (Italy) (d) Department of Medical, Surgical, and Health Sciences, University of Trieste, Trieste (Italy) (e) Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana (Slovenia) (f) Slovenia Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana (Slovenia) (g) ESRF (h) Elettra, Sincrotrone Trieste, Trieste (Italy)

either partially or totally co-localising with iron in the endometriotic lesions (Figure 11), confirming that these pollutants tend to cluster with iron aggregates. Low levels of iron and no accumulation of environmental elements were found in the healthy endometrium samples (controls).

In conclusion, micro- and nano-XRF mapping has revealed the accumulation and co-localisation of iron and

environmental metals in human ovarian endometriosis. These observations suggest some endocrine-disrupting chemical elements are related to iron dysmetabolism and may be involved in triggering or favouring the progression of the disease. Further studies are needed to expand these novel findings, focusing on the mechanism of metal accumulation in tissues in relation to iron dysmetabolism, as a potential target for therapeutic approaches.

Fig. 11: Quantitative analysis (except for rubidium) of two selected regions of sample A1. For the red box region (a) iron, (b) zinc, (c) rubidium, (d) calcium, (e) sulfur, (f) chromium, (g) bromine, (h) lead and (i) titanium could be quantified (scale bar: 2 μm). For the black box area, iron in (j) logarithmic scale and (k) linear scale, (l) zinc, (m) calcium, (n) sulfur and (o) chromium could be retrieved (scale bar: 5 μm). Both areas were scanned at 17.2 keV with 100 nm step size.