Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences, Vol 53, Issue 1 M3-M7, Copyright © 1998 by The Gerontological Society of America

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Profile of endometriosis in the aging female rhesus monkey

CL Coe, AM Lemieux, SE Rier, H Uno and ML Zimbric
Harlow Center for Biological Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53715, USA. ccoe@facstaff.wisc.edu

BACKGROUND: A retrospective analysis was conducted on necropsy records from a large rhesus monkey colony to evaluate the age-related prevalence of endometriosis. METHODS: A total of 314 records collected over a 15-year period were analyzed, yielding 66 monkeys with histologically verified endometriosis and 248 control subjects. RESULTS: The analyses demonstrated that the incidence of endometriosis increases progressively across the life span, ultimately impacting 21- 45% of aged monkeys over 20 years of age. CONCLUSIONS: Because mild disease is often not diagnosed premortem, the endocrine and immune sequelae of endometriosis may be a potential confound in even nonreproductive research with aging primates. Prior research-related events influence the occurrence and severity of endometriosis in these long-lived animals, and specifically could have contributed to the high prevalence of endometriosis in this particular monkey colony.

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