Record review of baboons with histologically confirmed endometriosis in a large established colony

Edward J. Dick, E J Dick, Dick EJ Jr, G B Hubbard, Gene B. Hubbard, Hubbard GB, L J Martin, Lisa J. Martin, Martin LJ, M M Leland, Leland MM, M. Michelle Leland
Journal of medical primatology · 2003 · vol. 32(1) , pp. 39–47 · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0684.2003.00008.x · PMID:12733601 · W1976239954
article OA: bronze CC0 ⤵ 27 in-corpus citations
🔓 Open OA copy View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This record review identified spontaneous endometriosis in 43 baboons over 14 years, noting ovarian involvement and abdominal scar seeding, and confirming its utility as a spontaneous model for human endometriosis.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Spontaneous endometriosis was diagnosed in 43 baboons over a 14-year period. Thirty-seven have died; five remain alive; one was sold and lost to follow-up. The average age at diagnosis was 17.2 years; 29 (67%) were between 12 and 21 years of age. Fifteen (35%) were diagnosed by biopsy and received surgical excision of the endometriotic tissue; four of these were identified during caesarian section, confirming one prior report of endometriosis in pregnant animals. Twenty-eight (65%) were diagnosed at or shortly preceding necropsy. When diagnosed by a palpable abdominal mass, there was a significantly greater likelihood the animal died or was killed as a result of complications of endometriosis. When diagnosis was at necropsy, there was a significantly greater likelihood that the animal died from causes unrelated to endometriosis. Early identification with surgical removal appears to provide a benefit for both survival and delivering offspring after diagnosis. In twenty-one baboons (49%), endometriosis affected multiple sites within the peritoneal cavity. In the remaining baboons, lesions were more localized. Ovarian involvement was seen in sixteen (37%) of these baboons. This paper is the first to describe significant ovarian involvement in baboons, previously considered a limitation of the usefulness of this species as an animal model. We also describe the first reported endometriosis seeding of an abdominal surgery scar in a baboon. Many of these baboons were middle aged, had few or no offspring, or had evidence of a long duration of uninterrupted menstrual cycles, consistent with risk factors for women. Endometriosis was an incidental finding in 17 (40%) of these baboons, consistent with previous reports of minimal endometriosis as a common asymptomatic finding in baboons and in women. Overall, endometriosis in baboons presents a spontaneously occurring animal model that shares important features with the disease in women and the rhesus macaque.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Monkey Diseases Papio Age of Onset Animals Disease Models, Animal Endometriosis Female Monkey Diseases Pregnancy Reproductive History

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 (18)

Cited by (26)

Source provenance

europepmc
last seen: 2026-08-29T06:12:09.280863+00:00
openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
pubmed
last seen: 2026-05-13T22:12:50.257867+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK