Aging in the musculoskeletal system of rhesus monkeys: III. Bone loss

Abstract

It is well established that aging of the human skeleton includes the loss of bone mass or density, but little comparative information on age-related osteopenia in other primates is available. In order to determine whether bone loss occurs in normally locomoting nonhuman primates, radiographs of 139 rhesus monkey skeletons from the Cayo Santiago collection were examined, and measures of percent cortical bone (PCT) at the midshaft of second metacarpals, humeri, and femora were calculated. An age-related osteopenia was observed in the metacarpal of adult female macaques, although much individual variation was present. This variability could not be explained by reproductive history (number of offspring), matrilineal affiliation, or degree of osteoarthrosis. However, in a subsample of 15 animals, females who had given birth in the three months prior to death showed lower PCTs than those who had not conceived in the previous mating season. In adult males, PCT did not vary significantly with age, but males that weighed less and those with no/little osteoarthrosis showed lower PCTs than heavier or more arthritic animals, respectively. The multifactorial nature of the variation in PCT observed here suggests that similar processes of bone behavior are involved in the skeletal aging of both humans and rhesus monkeys.

A search for principles of disability using experimental impairment of Drosophila melanogaster

“…For example, the results of studies of wear-and-tear in insects are considered largely in the context of either aging theory [1][2][3] or age-determination technology [4][5][6][7], and only rarely in the context of fitness [8][9][10]. The literature on impairments in nonhuman vertebrates includes studies concerned with healed fractures [11,12], degenerative joint disease [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20], broken teeth and horns [21][22][23], and either diversionary [24][25][26], compensatory [27,28], or infirmity-elicited [29,30] behaviors. But there are no papers in the ecology, behavior and evolution literature that attempt to either generalize concepts or unify the field.…”

Skeletal effects of long-term caloric restriction in rhesus monkeys

“…In female rhesus macaque vertabrae, a weak positive correlation between bone density and weight has been reported (Grynpas et al 1989(Grynpas et al , 1993. Contrary to this, DeRousseau (1985) found a statistically significant inverse relationship between body weight and bone mass in female rhesus macaques, possibly due to the effects of osteoarthritis (OA).…”

“…Since estrogen and other highly lipid soluble substances can be stored and subsequently released by body fat, it is believed that increased amounts of fat can result in higher maintenance levels of estrogen and therefore a reduction in estrogen-depletion bone loss (DeRousseau 1985). Heavier body weights are also associated with increased serum concentrations of testosterone (Edelstein and Barrett-Connor 1993).…”

“…Age-related bone loss has also been reported in several macaque species (Bowden et al 1979;Champ et al 1996;Colman et al 1999a, b;DeRousseau 1985;Grynpas et al 1993;Kessler et al 1986;Pope et al 1989;Przybeck 1985;Smith et al 2009;Binkley et al 1998;Brommage 2001;Fox et al 2007;Miller et al 1986), although none of these model systems replicate the osteoporotic fractures found in the human disease. To date, there is little information on the effect of aging interventions on the progression of agerelated bone loss.…”

Preclinical Models for Skeletal Research: How Commonly Used Species Mimic (or Don’t) Aspects of Human Bone

“…There exists a number of premature aging mouse models, driven by genetic mutations, all of which show loss of bone that appears to mimic the human aging process (Watanabe and Duque, 2016). Pure aging studies in larger animals are limited, likely because of the time and expense (Black et al, 2001;DeRousseau, 1985;Detenbeck and Jowsey, 1969;Martin et al, 1981).…”