Psychosocial stress increases risk for type 2 diabetes in female cynomolgus macaques consuming a western diet.

Chronic psychosocial stress is associated with increased risk of many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus. However, it is difficult to establish a causal relationship between stress and diabetes in human studies because stressors often are self-reported and may be distant in time from metabolic consequences. Macaques are useful models of the effects of chronic psychosocial stress on health and may develop obesity and diabetes similar to human beings.

Mediterranean diet, stress resilience, and aging in nonhuman primates.

Persistent psychological stress increases the risk of many chronic diseases of aging. Little progress has been made to effectively reduce stress responses or mitigate stress effects suggesting a need for better understanding of factors that influence stress responses. Limited evidence suggests that diet may be a factor in modifying the effects of stress.

Diet, psychosocial stress, and Alzheimer's disease-related neuroanatomy in female nonhuman primates.

Introduction: Associations between diet, psychosocial stress, and neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), have been reported, but causal relationships are difficult to determine in human studies.

Methods: We used structural magnetic resonance imaging in a well-validated non-human primate model of AD-like neuropathology to examine the longitudinal effects of diet (Mediterranean vs Western) and social subordination stress on brain anatomy, including global volumes, cortical thicknesses and volumes, and 20 individual regions of interest (ROIs).

Results: Western diet resulted in greater cortical thicknesses, total brain volumes, and gray matter, and diminished cerebrospinal fluid and white matter volumes.

Mediterranean versus Western Diet Effects on Caloric Intake, Obesity, Metabolism, and Hepatosteatosis in Nonhuman Primates.

Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of humanlike Western and Mediterranean diets on caloric intake, obesity, metabolism, and hepatosteatosis in an established nonhuman primate model of obesity, cardiometabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

Methods: A 38-month, randomized, preclinical, nonhuman primate primary prevention trial of 38 socially housed, middle-aged adult females was conducted. The monkeys were characterized during a 7-month baseline phase while consuming chow and then randomized to either Western or Mediterranean diets; the groups were balanced on baseline characteristics.

Relationships of depressive behavior and sertraline treatment with walking speed and activity in older female nonhuman primates.

Depression is the most common mental health problem in aging persons and is a leading risk factor for physical disability, especially in women. Though antidepressant drugs such as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are commonly prescribed, epidemiological evidence reveals mixed effects of long-term antidepressant use on physical function and activity, possibly depending on depressive status. The purpose of this preclinical trial was to determine the relationships of depressive behavior and the potential for an SSRI treatment to modulate walking speed and activity patterns in older adult female cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis).

Long-term sertraline treatment and depression effects on carotid artery atherosclerosis in premenopausal female primates.

Objective: Atherosclerosis developed during premenopausal years predicts postmenopausal atherosclerosis burden. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants, recently approved for hot flushes, have been associated with increased ischemic stroke risk in several observational studies; however, effects on carotid artery atherosclerosis, a strong predictor of future vascular events, are unknown.

Methods: The effects of chronic administration of a commonly prescribed SSRI, sertraline HCl, on atherosclerosis in the carotid artery was assessed in a placebo-controlled, longitudinal, randomized study of premeonopausal depressed and nondepressed cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis; n = 42).

The impact of treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on primate cardiovascular disease, behavior, and neuroanatomy.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use is ubiquitous because they are widely prescribed for a number of disorders in addition to depression. Depression increases the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Hence, treating depression with SSRIs could reduce CHD risk.

Sertraline inhibits increases in body fat and carbohydrate dysregulation in adult female cynomolgus monkeys.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are widely prescribed for depression and other disorders. SSRIs have become one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States, particularly by women. Acute effects on body composition and carbohydrate metabolism have been reported, but little is known regarding the effects of chronic SSRI use.