Familial periodontal disease in the cayo santiago rhesus macaques

Abstract

Substantial ongoing research continues to explore the contribution of genetics and environment to the onset, extent and severity of periodontal disease(s). Existing evidence supports that periodontal disease appears to have an increased prevalence in family units with a member having aggressive periodontitis. We have been using the nonhuman primate as a model of periodontal disease for over 25 years with these species demonstrating naturally-occurring periodontal disease that increases with age. This report details our findings from evaluation of periodontal disease in skulls from 97 animals (5–31 years of age) derived from the skeletons of the rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago. Periodontal disease was evaluated by determining the distance from the base of the alveolar bone defect to the cemento-enamel junction on 1st/2nd premolars and 1st/2nd molars from all 4 quadrants. The results demonstrated an increasing extent and severity of periodontitis with aging across the population of animals beyond only compensatory eruption. Importantly, irrespective of age, extensive heterogeneity in disease expression was observed among the animals. Linking these variations to multi-generational matriarchal family units supported familial susceptibility of periodontitis. As the current generations of animals that are descendants from these matrilines are alive, studies can be conducted to explore an array of underlying factors that could account for susceptibility or resistance to periodontal disease.

Clinical and microbiological parameters of naturally occurring periodontitis in the non-human primate Macaca mulatta

“…Given that the mean ages of animals in these two subgroups were nearly identical, this suggests that there is heterogeneity among macaques with respect to susceptibility (Table 2), a picture previously observed in a retrospective study of this animal model [31]. The microbial challenge in the moderate-severe vs mild disease groups was not significantly different.…”

The mandibles of castrated male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta): The effects of orchidectomy on bone and teeth

“…Despite the small sample size of castrates, they and the controls had the same environment, without the confounding factors normally found in humans, such as smoking (or chewing) tobacco, alcohol consumption, different nutrition, ethnic origin, genetics, education, and levels of dental care and oral hygiene practices found in human studies. Thus, the skeletons of CS rhesus macaques make a favorable model for the investigation of both normal aging and reduced sex steroids (both testosterone in orchidectomized males and estrogen in ovariectomized females) on bone, dentition and oral pathology (Gonzalez et al, ; Kessler et al, ; Wang et al, ). A general profile of dental pathology as part of skeletal conditions provides a glimpse of life quality of individuals and populations, which have behavioral, ecological, and evolutionary implications (Schultz, ; Auskaps and Shaw, ; Hershkovitz, ; Turner, ; Kilgore, ; Lovell, 1991; Zihlman et al, ; Stoner, ; DeGusta and Milton, ; Cuozzo and Sauther, ; Guatelli‐Steinberg and Benderlioglu, ; Pritzker and Kessler, ; Gilmore, ).…”

“…The Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) maintains one of the most important rhesus macaque colonies in the world on CS, and one of the best and largest nonhuman primate skeletal collections for research in the world. The rhesus skeletons in this collection, most of which are derived from the CS population, provide a unique research resource with which to conduct skeletal and dental studies (Rawlins and Kessler, ; Cerroni et al, ; Guatelli‐Steinberg and Benderlioglu, ; Wang et al, ,2007; Dunbar, ; Turnquist et al, ; Wang, ; Kensler, ; Gonzalez et al, ; Kessler et al, ; Kessler and Rawlins, ).…”

Periodontal disease susceptible matrilines in the Cayo Santiago Macaca mulatta macaques

“…We have collaborated with the Caribbean Primate Research Center in Sabana Seca, Puerto Rico (CPRC) to examine aging effects on the immune system in gingival tissues and the relationship to the oral microbiome with initiation and progression of periodontitis . As we have reported previously, these animals were derived from a large, free‐ranging colony of rhesus monkeys that was created in 1938 on “Cayo Santiago” off the coast of Puerto Rico…”