An observational study in Menstruation, sponsored by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France. Completed at 1 site in France. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 45 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-10-06.
Sponsored by Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France · Observational
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.
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.
Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France is the lead sponsor of 375 studies on the registry; 82 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Healthy female volunteers experiencing regular periods
Exclusion Criteria:
Gene expression levels measured by RNA-seq
Gene expression levels measured in the different cell types of the endometrial tissue during menstruation using RNA extraction and sequencing (RNA-seq)
Time frame: Average to study completion 30 months
Active regulatory elements profiled by ATAC-seq
Profiling of the genetic elements accessible to transposase assays and sequencing (putative active regulatory elements; ATAC-seq) in the different cell types of endometrial tissue during menstruation
Time frame: Average to study completion 30 months
Plan to share: Undecided
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This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Institut National de la Santé Et de la Recherche Médicale, France