Stable isotope evidence (Fe, Cu) suggests that sex, but not aging is recorded in rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) bone

Abstract

Objectives Here, we examine (1) if the sex‐related differences in iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) isotope ratios, represented as δ56Fe and δ65Cu values, respectively observed in humans exist in bulk occipital bone and incisors of male and female non‐human primates, and (2) if the variation of Fe and Cu isotope ratios, known to vary in human blood as a factor of age are similar in non‐human primate bone. Materials and Methods Isotope ratios were measured from the skeletal elements of 20 rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) with known life history traits. The metals were purified by column chromatography and their isotope ratios measured by MC‐ICP‐MS. Data were analyzed using generalized additive models (GAM). Results When accounting for age and sex independently, we found a significant relationship between δ65Cu values and occipital bone, but not in incisors. There were no significant relationships observed between δ56Fe values, occipital bone, or incisors. Similarly, there were no significant relationships observed between δ56Fe values, δ65Cu values, and age. Discussion We suggest that Cu and Fe isotope ratios have the potential to be useful supplementary tools in future research in biological anthropology, but additional studies are needed to further verify the relationship between sex, age, δ65Cu, and δ56Fe values in primates.

Elemental composition of primary lamellar bone differs between parous and nulliparous rhesus macaque females

“…The observed difference between parous and nulliparous females is independent of age ( S8 and S9 Figs). Our results are in agreement with the recent work [ 40 ] showing that stable isotopes record sex-specific, but not age-specific changes in rhesus macaques. Work investigating the effects of parity on bone mineral content and density in rhesus macaques has also found that bone characteristics differ between age-matched parous and nulliparous females [ 41 ].…”

Performance of the double-Wien filter of the Neoma MC-ICPMS/MS with an application to copper stable isotope compositions

“…It was not until the late 1990's with the arrival of the rst commercialized multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS), at the time the Plasma 54 (VG Elemental, now ThermoFisher Scientic, Bremen), that it was possible to achieve precise (0.02& per amu) Cu isotope ratio measurements. 2 The pioneering work of Maréchal et al 2 showed that the instrumental mass bias of MC-ICPMS can be corrected by a combination of standard/sample bracketing and elemental doping with Zn, which was further modied by using Ni 3,4 or Ga. 5,6 The overall consistency of the measurements of Cu isotope compositions by MC-ICPMS leads to the rapid development of applications in various elds such as cosmochemistry, 7,8 igneous, 9,10 ore, 11,12 sediment 13,14 and river 15,16 geochemistry, oceanography, 17,18 tracing atmospheric [19][20][21] and soil [22][23][24] pollution, assessing the diagnosis and prognosis of metabolic [25][26][27] and neurodegenerative [28][29][30] diseases, cancer, [31][32][33] but also in palaeoanthropology [34][35][36] and archaeology. [37][38][39] Prior to isotopic analysis, Cu needs to be separated from the matrix and further puried using ion-exchange chromatography.…”

Metal-binding amino acid ligands commonly found in metalloproteins differentially fractionate copper isotopes

“…Because fractionation patterns differ with disease state 3 , Cu isotope ratios has been proposed as diagnostic indicators of Alzheimer’s disease 20 , 21 , breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer 27 , 28 as well as multiple diseases of the liver 9 , 26 , 29 , 31 . However, development of such diagnostics is presently hampered by numerous confounding variables including organisms’ sex 8 , 10 , age 13 , 19 , diet 32 , and menopausal state 15 , 33 .…”