Plasma cholesterol levels in free-ranging macaques compared with captive macaques and humans.

Plasma total cholesterol in free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) on Koshima islet and in free-ranging long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) at Pangandaran in Indonesia was found to occur at very low levels compared with captive macaques and humans. Although total cholesterol levels in captive macaques were lower than humans, differences in HDL cholesterol levels were only small. In both sexes of wild and captive Japanese macaques, total cholesterol levels decreased from birth through to young adulthood but then increased in adult females of the captive group.