Growth of nursery‐raised Macaca nemestrina infants: Effects of feeding schedules, sex, and birth weight

Abstract

Ponderal growth, caloric intake, growth velocity, and growth efficiency were studied from birth through 90 days in 523 nursery-raised pigtailed macaque infants. The male and female subjects ranged in birth weight from the 1st through 100th centiles of the colony distribution and were all judged to be clinically healthy. One group of infants was fed on an ad lib schedule, with formula continuously available from dispensers which were replenished every 8 h. A second group was fed on a distributed regimen, with formula available on a 4-h-onlCh-off schedule. The latter schedule was instituted because of bacterial growth in the milk after 4 h. Infants fed the distributed diet had 20-25% lower caloric intake than those fed ad lib, but equaled or exceeded ad lib infants in body weight, growth velocity, and grams gained per 100 kilocalories (growth efficiency). The poorer utilization of calories by the ad lib group was attributed to a combination of bacteria in the milk, which caused diarrhea, and inability to metabolize the excess nutrients gained from overconsumption of fluids. The effects of the distributed diet occurred for both males and females, and across the full range of birth weights. Peak velocity and growth efficiency for both males and females occurred at 2 weeks after birth for high-birth-weight (HBW) infants and at 3 weeks for low-birth-weight (LBW) infants. However, the growth efficiency of LBW infants was equal to, or greater than, that of HBW infants after postnatal day 2. Descriptive statistics and regression equations based on this large sample are presented for quantitative comparisons of growth parameters with those of other primate species reared in laboratory or field settings. o 1992 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Prenatal Cord Clamping in Newborn <i>Macaca nemestrina:</i> A Model of Perinatal Asphyxia

“…Heparinized maternal blood (collected at the time of delivery) was transfused when the phlebotomized blood volume reached 10 ml. Physical growth parameters (weight, crown-rump length, head circumference, head width, and head length) were measured every 2 weeks throughout life [16,17] . Animals were sedated with ketamine, then euthanized with an overdose of i.v.…”

Four decades of leading‐edge research in the reproductive and developmental sciences: The Infant Primate Research Laboratory at the University of Washington National Primate Research Center

“…Newell-Morris & Sirianni [1982] continued this work, describing measures of humerus bone growth in both fetal and infant pigtails using trichromatic bone labels. Finally, and in a more general sense, Sackett & Ruppenthal [1992] published a frequently-cited paper on normative growth of nursery-raised pigtails infants, documenting effects of sex and birth weight, but interestingly, also illustrating the critical importance of feeding schedules on physical growth. During the decades of research in the IPRL, other studies of morphology and biomechanics have occasionally appeared.…”

Baboon Nursery Rearing Practices and Comparisons between Nursery-Reared and Mother-Reared Individuals

“…For example, infant pigtailed macaques that had ad libitum access to formula consumed 20-25% more calories than did infants on a distributed schedule (4 hr access/4 hr no access). Owing to the presence of bacteriacausing diarrhea and an inability to metabolize the additional nutrients, however, they did not exceed the body weight of infants on the distributed schedule (Sackett and Ruppenthal, 1992).…”