Blockade of MMP activity with TIMP-1 reduced the development of lesions in the experimental model of endometriosis in the ovariectomised nude mouse; furthermore, specific inhibition of "classical" MMPs (MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, and -13) with MMP inhibitor III reduced the development of endometriosis-like lesions in an in vitro invasion assay, the chicken chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay [37,38]. This evidence concerns the gene MMP1 and endometriosis.