Measurement of Blood Volume in Adult Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta).

Most biomedical facilities that use rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) limit the amount of blood that may be collected for experimental purposes. These limits typically are expressed as a percentage of blood volume (BV), estimated by using a fixed ratio of blood (mL) per body weight (kg). BV estimation ratios vary widely among facilities and typically do not factor in variables known to influence BV in humans: sex, age, and body condition.

Assessing the pulsatility of luteinizing hormone in female vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus).

Specific alterations in the pulsatility of luteinizing hormone (LH) are linked to obesity-related subfertility in ovulatory women. Vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus) are an Old World nonhuman primate that develops obesity and has a menstrual cycle similar to humans. We evaluated follicular-phase LH pulses in 12 adult normal-weight female vervets.

Hormonal components of altered developmental pathways in the annual killifish, Austrofundulus limnaeus.

The annual killifish, Austrofundulus limnaeus, typically enters embryonic diapause at two distinct points of development, termed diapause II and III. This study explores the role of maternal and embryonic steroid hormones, including 17-β-estradiol (E2), androstenedione (A4) and testosterone (T), in regulating the developmental decision to enter or escape diapause II. Steroid hormone levels were measured in tissues isolated from adult female killifish during the normal lifespan of this species and in individuals of the same age that were producing either high or low proportions of escape embryos.

Persistence of hormonal and metabolic rhythms during fasting in 7- to 9-day-old rabbits entrained by nursing during the night.

Rabbit does nurse their litter once every 24h during the night. We hypothesized that corticosterone, ghrelin, leptin, and metabolites such as glucose, liver glycogen, and free fatty acids could be affected in the pups by the time at which does nurse them. Therefore, we measured these parameters in pups nursed at 02:00 h (nighttime for the doe) to compare them with results from a previous study where does nursed at 10:00 h, during daytime.

Serotonin in microdialysate from the mediobasal hypothalamus increases after progesterone administration to estrogen primed macaques.

Estrogen and progesterone act on gene and protein expression in serotonin neurons in a manner that suggests serotonin neurotransmission should increase. However, measurement of extracellular serotonin in macaques was lacking. Elevated prolactin secretion can be an indicator of increased serotonergic function and prolactin is increased by combined estrogen and progesterone treatment.

Sensitivity to stress-induced reproductive dysfunction linked to activity of the serotonin system.

Objective: To use a nonhuman primate model and determine whether individuals sensitive to stress-induced reproductive dysfunction have lower activity of central serotonergic neurons under nonstressed conditions.

Design: The activity of the central serotonergic system was assessed by measuring responsiveness to a fenfluramine challenge (5 mg/kg, IV) in sedated monkeys previously categorized as highly stress resistant (HSR; n = 4; normal menstrual cyclicity through two stress cycles), medium stress resistant (MSR; n = 5; ovulatory in the first stress cycle but anovulatory in the second stress cycle), or low stress resistant (i.e.

Serotonin neurons derived from rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells: similarities to CNS serotonin neurons.

We sought an in vitro primate model for serotonin neurons. Rhesus monkey embryonic stem (ES) cell colonies were isolated and differentiated into embryoid bodies (EBs), then transferred to serum-free medium with 1% insulin-transferrin-selenium for 7 days to induce neural precursor cell (NPC) formation. NPCs were cultured in medium with 1% N-2 neural supplement and human fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2, 10 ng/ml) for 7 days to stimulate cell proliferation.

Anxious behavior and fenfluramine-induced prolactin secretion in young rhesus macaques with different alleles of the serotonin reuptake transporter polymorphism (5HTTLPR).

Anxiety is a normal aspect of human personality, which can manifest in a variety of disorders and other negative traits. The primary treatment for anxiety is the class of drugs known as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which bind to the serotonin reuptake transporter. The upstream region of the gene that codes for this transporter contains a polymorphism that is an insertion/deletion event that in turn, produces long (l) and short (s) alleles in the population.