Obese (n = 8) and nonobese (n = 6) adult rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were assessed in terms of body size and distribution of body fat, glucose tolerance, and serum lipid, insulin, and androgen levels. The weights of the obese monkeys were more than 2 SD above the mean for their sex, while the nonobese monkeys averaged less than 0.25 SD from the mean. Obese males and females had excess body fat located predominantly in the abdominal region; abdominal circumference was highly correlated with total body fat, as estimated by the isotope dilution method (r = 0.98; P less than 0.001). Obese monkeys of both sexes had fasting hyperinsulinemia, greater insulin response to iv glucose administration, and marginally impaired glucose tolerance. Obese males had delayed maximal insulin response to glucose administration. Fasting serum triglycerides also were elevated in the obese monkeys (0.95 +/- 0.08 vs. 0.47 +/- 0.05 mmol/L; P less than 0.001). Obese males had lower serum dihydrotestosterone levels than nonobese males (3.1 +/- 0.7 vs. 5.6 +/- 0.4 nmol/L; P less than 0.01). Nonobese females had approximately 2-fold higher serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels than the other groups. We conclude that obese male and female rhesus monkeys have patterns of fat distribution and glucoregulatory abnormalities similar to those of humans with upper body obesity. The contribution of differences in androgen metabolism to the development of obesity and its complications in rhesus monkeys remain to be defined.

The effects of daily treatment with testosterone propionate (TP, 2 mg/kg) and dihydrotestosterone propionate (DHTP, 2 mg/kg) were examined in rhesus monkeys in three experiments. In experiments 1 and 2, males and females gonadectomized in infancy, and female pseudohermaphrodites produced by prenatal exposure to TP or DHTP and gonadectomized postpubertally, were studied in conjunction with intact males (IM). The IM group was heavier in adulthood than the three gonadectomized groups, which did not differ in body weight from each other. Genetic males had greater crown-rump length than genetic females. Treatment of the gonadectomized groups with TP produced large increases in body mass (averaging approximately 50%) that were attributable to accretion of lean tissue. This effect did not differ significantly between males and females. In experiment 3, additional groups of males that had been castrated as infants were given daily injections with DHTP or oil. The DHTP treatment resulted in increases in body size that were not different from those seen following TP treatment. When TP and DHPT treatments were discontinued, body weights and dimensions reverted to base-line values. Increased body size induced by TP and DHTP was accomplished without reliable increases in food intake. Because testosterone (T) is metabolized to dihydrotestosterone (DHT), while DHT cannot be converted to T, these results show that both T and DHT are effective anabolic hormones in rhesus.