Reproductive tract lesions in aged nonhuman primates

Nonhuman primates serve as vital models for human disease. Aging nonhuman primates have many similarities to humans when it comes to lesions of the reproductive tract. Leiomyomas, endometriosis, ovarian atrophy, and endometrial changes are common to both women and nonhuman primates. On the other hand, endometrial carcinomas and ovarian carcinomas predominate in women, while granulosa cell tumors predominate in the most commonly used species of nonhuman primates in biomedical research. In males, testicular atrophy and degeneration is common to humans and other primates. In contrast to men, nonhuman primates do not suffer from prostatic hyperplasia and neoplasia commonly. The species that share certain aging lesions with humans can serve as valuable models to study these diseases. Furthermore, the differences in the observed reproductive tract lesions present an opportunity to study the reason for the discrepancies and further elucidate the mechanism of disease.