Table 1.

Characteristics of animal models of pelvic organ prolapse.

Animal model	Lifespan (years)	Spontaneous POP	Age spontaneous prolapse appears	Increased POP with parity	Difficult labor	Duration of hormonal cycle (days)	Feasibility for pelvic repair surgery	Similar pelvic anatomy to women	Genetically modified	Cost
Mice
LOXL1 KO	1–2	Yes	~12 weeks+	Yes	No	4–5	Difficult	Poor	Yes	$
FBLN5 KO	1–2	Yes	~12 weeks+	Yes	No	4–5	Difficult	Poor	Yes	$
FBLN3 KO	1–2	Yes	~12 weeks+	No	No	4–5	Difficult	Poor	Yes	$
Hoxa11 KO	1–2	No	NA	NA	INA	4–5	Difficult	Poor	Yes	$
UPII/SV40T	1–2	Yes	~16 weeks+	INA	INA	4–5	Difficult	Poor	Yes	$
Rats
	2.5–4	No	NA	No	No	4–5	Intermediate	Poor	No	$
Rabbits
	5–6	No†	NA	No	No	NA	Intermediate	Poor	No	$$
Sheep
	6–11	Yes	2 years+	Yes	Yes	13–19	Good	Good	No	$$$
Cows
	20–25	Yes	~3 years+	INA	Yes	18–24	Good, but logistically difficult	Good	No	$$$
Pigs
	~15	Yes	4 months+	INA	Yes	18–22	Good	Fair	No	$$$
NHP
Rhesus macaque	~25	Yes	~13 years‡	INA	Yes	26–29	Good	Excellent	No	$$$$$
Squirrel monkey	~20	Yes	3 years+	Yes	Yes	8–12	Good	Excellent	No	$$$$$
Baboon	30–40	No	NA	No	No	30–40	Good	Excellent	No	$$$$$

^†Although there have been reports of spontaneous prolapse in rabbits, this has only been observed in one colony [15].

^‡Rhesus monkey age of spontaneous prolapse obtained from Clark et al. [111].

$–$$$$$: Relative cost of working with each animal model; INA: Information not available; KO: Knockout; NA: Not applicable; NHP: Nonhuman primates; POP: Pelvic organ prolapse.