Animal Models of Adenomyosis

Ryan M Marquardt, Jae‐Wook Jeong, Asgerally T Fazleabas
Seminars in reproductive medicine · 2020 · vol. 38(02/03) , pp. 168–178 · doi:10.1055/s-0040-1718741 · PMID:33105508 · PMC8054228 · W3093660125
review OA: green CC0 ⤵ 21 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This review assesses animal models used to study adenomyosis pathogenesis, screen therapeutics, and understand associated symptoms, discussing their potential and limitations for future research and drug validation.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This paper is a review of animal models of adenomyosis, describing how spontaneous adenomyosis has been observed mainly in nonhuman primates (largely case reports) and how experimental adenomyosis is induced in mice using approaches such as neonatal tamoxifen exposure, pituitary engraftment, and human tissue xenotransplantation, as well as hormonal/environmental toxicant exposures and genetically engineered strains (notably β-catenin alterations). The authors report that these models have provided limited-but-informative insight into still-unclear adenomyosis pathogenesis and have been used to study mechanisms underlying pain and fertility problems and to support preclinical therapeutic screening. A key caveat stated is that models differ in their potentials and limitations for identifying and validating new therapeutic interventions, reflecting incomplete translation to human disease. This paper is centrally about endometriosis and adenomyosis research via its specific focus on adenomyosis animal models and their shared relevance to pain and fertility mechanisms with endometriosis.

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Abstract

Adenomyosis is a nonmalignant uterine disorder in which endometrial tissue exists within and grows into the myometrium. Animal models have generated limited insight into the still-unclear pathogenesis of adenomyosis, provided a platform for preclinical screening of many drugs and compounds with potential as therapeutics, and elucidated mechanisms underlying the pain and fertility issues that occur in many women with the disease. Spontaneous adenomyosis has been studied in nonhuman primates, primarily in the form of case reports. Adenomyosis is routinely experimentally induced in mice through methods such as neonatal tamoxifen exposure, pituitary engraftment, and human tissue xenotransplantation. Several studies have also reported hormonal or environmental toxicant exposures that give rise to murine adenomyosis, and genetically engineered models have been created that recapitulate the human-like condition, most notably involving alteration of β-catenin expression. This review describes the animal models for adenomyosis and their contributions to our understanding of the factors underpinning the development of symptoms. Animal models represent a unique opportunity for understanding the molecular basis of adenomyosis and developing efficacious treatment options for affected women. Herein, we assess their different potentials and limitations with regard to identification of new therapeutic interventions and reflect on future directions for research and drug validation.

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Condition tags

chronic_pelvic_painadenomyosis

MeSH descriptors

Adenomyosis Models, Animal Adenomyosis Adenomyosis Animals Female Humans Infertility Infertility Mice Pelvic Pain Pelvic Pain Primates

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (100)

Cited by (21)

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