Profile of endometriosis in the aging female rhesus monkey.

<bold>Background: </bold>A retrospective analysis was conducted on necropsy records from a large rhesus monkey colony to evaluate the age-related prevalence of endometriosis.<bold>Methods: </bold>A total of 314 records collected over a 15-year period were analyzed, yielding 66 monkeys with histologically verified endometriosis and 248 control subjects.<bold>Results: </bold>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.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]