Couri Bruna M, Lenis Andrew T, Borazjani Ali, Paraiso Marie Fidela R, Damaser Margot S
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Avenue ND20 Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Expert Rev Obstet Gynecol. 2012 May 1;7(3):249-260. doi: 10.1586/eog.12.24.
Pelvic organ prolapse is a vaginal protrusion of female pelvic organs. It has high prevalence worldwide and represents a great burden to the economy. The pathophysiology of pelvic organ prolapse is multifactorial and includes genetic predisposition, aberrant connective tissue, obesity, advancing age, vaginal delivery and other risk factors. Owing to the long course prior to patients becoming symptomatic and ethical questions surrounding human studies, animal models are necessary and useful. These models can mimic different human characteristics - histological, anatomical or hormonal, but none present all of the characteristics at the same time. Major animal models include knockout mice, rats, sheep, rabbits and nonhuman primates. In this article we discuss different animal models and their utility for investigating the natural progression of pelvic organ prolapse pathophysiology and novel treatment approaches.
盆腔器官脱垂是女性盆腔器官向阴道内突出。它在全球范围内发病率很高，给经济带来巨大负担。盆腔器官脱垂的病理生理学是多因素的，包括遗传易感性、结缔组织异常、肥胖、年龄增长、阴道分娩及其他风险因素。由于患者出现症状前病程较长以及围绕人体研究的伦理问题，动物模型是必要且有用的。这些模型可以模拟不同的人类特征——组织学、解剖学或激素方面的特征，但没有一个模型能同时具备所有这些特征。主要的动物模型包括基因敲除小鼠、大鼠、绵羊、兔子和非人类灵长类动物。在本文中，我们讨论不同的动物模型及其在研究盆腔器官脱垂病理生理学自然进展和新治疗方法方面的效用。
