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BMC Veterinary Research Aug 2023Conductive anaesthesia of the nerves around the head is one of the methods of intraoperative pain relief (under deep anaesthesia but before proceeding with the...
BACKGROUND
Conductive anaesthesia of the nerves around the head is one of the methods of intraoperative pain relief (under deep anaesthesia but before proceeding with the procedure). Performing this procedure on primates is especially challenging for the veterinarian, due to their cranial anatomy and topography, which has more in common with the human skull than with the skulls of other animals. Knowledge of key bony structures, including cranial foramina, is essential for effective anaesthesia of the cranial nerves.
RESULTS
In this study, the differences in the topography of the cranial foramina in eight selected species of primates were examined: Angola colobus (Colobus angolensis), Celebes crested macaque (Macaca nigra), L'Hoest's monkey (Allochrocebus lhoesti), baboon (Papio cynocephalus), buff-bellied capuchin (Sapajus xanthosternos), black-and-white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata), crowned lemur (Eulemur coronatus), and a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) coming from the Wroclaw Zoological Garden (Poland). The cranial nerves running through the foramina have also been described and their anaesthesia techniques against bone points have been tested to relieve post-operative pain in the area of the head supplied by these nerves.
CONCLUSION
The tests carried out show differences in the topography of the cranial foramina, and therefore also differences in the methods of injection, so the results obtained in this study may be useful in veterinary medicine, especially for practising veterinarians.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Lemur; Cercopithecidae; Cebidae; Colobus; Osteology; Lemuridae; Primates; Macaca; Skull; Cranial Nerves; Anesthesia
PubMed: 37573315
DOI: 10.1186/s12917-023-03680-7 -
The Journal of Infectious Diseases Feb 2024The United States has experienced a resurgence of pertussis following the introduction of acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines. This is likely due to the failure of aP...
BACKGROUND
The United States has experienced a resurgence of pertussis following the introduction of acellular pertussis (aP) vaccines. This is likely due to the failure of aP vaccines to induce durable immunity and prevent infection, carriage, and transmission.
METHODS
To evaluate the impact of aP vaccination on the immune response to infection and test the ability of infection to reprogram aP-imprinted immune responses, we challenged unvaccinated and aP-vaccinated baboons with Bordetella pertussis multiple times and accessed the immune responses and outcomes of infections after each exposure.
RESULTS
Multiple infections were required to elicit T-helper 17 responses and protection in aP-vaccinated animals comparable to responses seen in unvaccinated animals after a single challenge. Even after 3 challenges, T-helper 1 responses were not observed in aP-vaccinated animals. Immunoglobulin G responses to vaccine and nonvaccine antigens were not negatively affected in aP-vaccinated animals.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results indicate that it is possible to retrain aP-primed immune responses, but it will likely require an optimal booster and multiple doses. Our results in the baboon model suggest that circulation of B. pertussis in aP-vaccinated populations is concentrated in the younger age bands of the population, providing information that can guide improved modeling of B. pertussis epidemiology in aP-vaccinated populations.
Topics: Animals; Whooping Cough; Bordetella pertussis; Papio; Antibodies, Bacterial; Pertussis Vaccine; Vaccines, Acellular
PubMed: 37565807
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiad332 -
IScience Jul 2023Reproductive strategies are defined by expenditures of time and energy devoted to mating effort, which increases mating opportunities, and parenting effort, which...
Reproductive strategies are defined by expenditures of time and energy devoted to mating effort, which increases mating opportunities, and parenting effort, which enhances the survival of offspring. We examine tradeoffs between mating effort and parenting effort in male olive baboons, , a species in which males compete for mating opportunities, but also form ties to lactating females (primary associations) that represent a form of parenting effort. Males that are involved in more primary associations invest less in mating effort than males who are involved in fewer primary associations. Males that are involved in more primary associations play a smaller role in establishing proximity to their primary associates than other males, suggesting that males operate under temporal constraints. There is also some evidence that involvement in primary associations negatively affects paternity success. Taken together, the data suggest that males face tradeoffs between mating effort and parenting effort.
PubMed: 37534148
DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.106991 -
Viruses Jul 2023Xenotransplantation, like allotransplantation, is usually associated with microchimerism, i.e., the presence of cells from the donor in the recipient. Microchimerism was...
Xenotransplantation, like allotransplantation, is usually associated with microchimerism, i.e., the presence of cells from the donor in the recipient. Microchimerism was reported in first xenotransplantation trials in humans, as well as in most preclinical trials in nonhuman primates (for review, see Denner, Viruses 2023, 15, 190). When using pigs as xenotransplantation donors, their cells contain porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in their genome. This makes it difficult to discriminate between microchimerism and PERV infection of the recipient. Here, we demonstrate the appropriate virological methods to be used for the identification of microchimerism, first by screening for porcine cellular genes, and then how to detect infection of the host. Using porcine short interspersed nuclear sequences (SINEs), which have hundreds of thousands of copies in the pig genome, significantly increased the sensitivity of the screening for pig cells. Second, absence of PERV RNA demonstrated an absence of viral genomic RNA or expression as mRNA. Lastly, absence of antibodies against PERV proteins conclusively demonstrated an absence of a PERV infection. When applying these methods for analyzing baboons after pig heart transplantation, microchimerism could be demonstrated and infection excluded in all animals. These methods can be used in future clinical trials.
Topics: Humans; Swine; Animals; Papio; Chimerism; Endogenous Retroviruses; Transplantation, Heterologous; RNA
PubMed: 37515304
DOI: 10.3390/v15071618 -
GeroScience Dec 2023Age and sex have a profound effect on cytosine methylation levels in humans and many other species. Here we analyzed DNA methylation profiles of 2400 tissues derived...
Age and sex have a profound effect on cytosine methylation levels in humans and many other species. Here we analyzed DNA methylation profiles of 2400 tissues derived from 37 primate species including 11 haplorhine species (baboons, marmosets, vervets, rhesus macaque, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutan, humans) and 26 strepsirrhine species (suborders Lemuriformes and Lorisiformes). From these we present here, pan-primate epigenetic clocks which are highly accurate for all primates including humans (age correlation R = 0.98). We also carried out in-depth analysis of baboon DNA methylation profiles and generated five epigenetic clocks for baboons (Olive-yellow baboon hybrid), one of which, the pan-tissue epigenetic clock, was trained on seven tissue types (fetal cerebral cortex, adult cerebral cortex, cerebellum, adipose, heart, liver, and skeletal muscle) with ages ranging from late fetal life to 22.8 years of age. Using the primate data, we characterize the effect of age and sex on individual cytosines in highly conserved regions. We identify 11 sex-related CpGs on autosomes near genes (POU3F2, CDYL, MYCL, FBXL4, ZC3H10, ZXDC, RRAS, FAM217A, RBM39, GRIA2, UHRF2). Low overlap can be observed between age- and sex-related CpGs. Overall, this study advances our understanding of conserved age- and sex-related epigenetic changes in primates, and provides biomarkers of aging for all primates.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Macaca mulatta; DNA Methylation; Epigenesis, Genetic; Aging; Papio; Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; Carrier Proteins
PubMed: 37493860
DOI: 10.1007/s11357-023-00878-3 -
Scientific Reports Jul 2023Industrialized diets that incorporate processed foods and are often high in simple sugars and fats and low in fiber have myriad health impacts, many of which may operate...
Industrialized diets that incorporate processed foods and are often high in simple sugars and fats and low in fiber have myriad health impacts, many of which may operate via impacts on the gut microbiota. Examining how these diets affect the gut microbiota can be challenging given that lab animal models experience altered environmental contexts, and human studies include a suite of co-varying cultural and environmental factors that are likely to shape the gut microbiota alongside diet. To complement these approaches, we compare the microbiomes of wild populations of olive baboons (Papio anubis) with differential access to human trash high in processed foods, simple sugars, and fats in Rwanda's Akagera National Park. Baboons are a good model system since their microbiomes are compositionally similar to those of humans. Additionally, this population inhabits a common environment with different social groups consuming qualitatively different amounts of human trash, limiting variation in non-dietary factors. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing we find that baboons with unlimited access to human trash have reduced microbial alpha diversity and reduced relative abundances of fiber-degrading taxa such as Ruminococcaceae, Prevotellaceae, and Lachnospiraceae. In contrast, baboons with limited access to human trash have a microbiome more similar to that of baboons with no access to human trash. Our results suggest that while a human-influenced diet high in processed foods, simple sugars, and fats is sufficient to alter the microbiome in wild baboons, there is a minimum threshold of dietary alteration that must occur before the microbiome is substantially altered. We recommend that data from wild primate populations such as these be used to complement ongoing research on diet-microbiome-health interactions in humans and lab animal models.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Gastrointestinal Microbiome; Papio; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S; Diet; Primates; Hominidae; Papio anubis; Monosaccharides
PubMed: 37482555
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-38895-z -
Learning & Behavior Dec 2023When human and non-human animals learn sequences, they manage to implicitly extract statistical regularities through associative learning mechanisms. In two experiments...
When human and non-human animals learn sequences, they manage to implicitly extract statistical regularities through associative learning mechanisms. In two experiments conducted with a non-human primate species (Guinea baboons, Papio papio), we addressed simple questions on the learning of simple AB associations appearing in longer noisy sequences. Using a serial reaction time task, we manipulated the position of AB within the sequence, such that it could be either fixed (by appearing always at the beginning, middle, or end of a four-element sequence; Experiment 1) or variable (Experiment 2). We also tested the effect of sequence length in Experiment 2 by comparing the performance on AB when it was presented at a variable position within a sequence of four or five elements. The slope of RTs from A to B was taken for each condition as a measurement of learning rate. While all conditions differed significantly from a no-regularity baseline, we found strong evidence that the learning rate did not differ between the conditions. These results indicate that regularity extraction is not impacted by the position of the regularity within a sequence and by the length of the sequence. These data provide novel general empirical constraints for modeling associative mechanisms in sequence learning.
Topics: Animals; Learning; Reaction Time; Papio papio
PubMed: 37284936
DOI: 10.3758/s13420-023-00579-z -
Reproductive Sciences (Thousand Oaks,... Oct 2023MicroRNAs (miRs) play an important role in the pathophysiology of endometriosis; however, the role of miR-210 in endometriosis remains unclear. This study explores the...
MicroRNAs (miRs) play an important role in the pathophysiology of endometriosis; however, the role of miR-210 in endometriosis remains unclear. This study explores the role of miR-210 and its targets, IGFBP3 and COL8A1, in ectopic lesion growth and development. Matched eutopic (EuE) and ectopic (EcE) endometrial samples were obtained for analysis from baboons and women with endometriosis. Immortalized human ectopic endometriotic epithelial cells (12Z cells) were utilized for functional assays. Endometriosis was experimentally induced in female baboons (n = 5). Human matched endometrial and endometriotic tissues were obtained from women (n = 9, 18-45 years old) with regular menstrual cycles. Quantitative reverse transcript polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) analysis was performed for in vivo characterization of miR-210, IGFBP3, and COL8A1. In situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analysis were performed for cell-specific localization. Immortalized endometriotic epithelial cell lines (12Z) were utilized for in vitro functional assays. MiR-210 expression was decreased in EcE, while IGFBP3 and COL8A1 expression was increased in EcE. MiR-210 was expressed in the glandular epithelium of EuE but attenuated in those of EcE. IGFBP3 and COL8A1 were expressed in the glandular epithelium of EuE and were increased compared to EcE. MiR-210 overexpression in 12Z cells suppressed IGFBP3 expression and attenuated cell proliferation and migration. MiR-210 repression and subsequent unopposed IGFBP3 expression may contribute to endometriotic lesion development by increasing cell proliferation and migration.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Female; Adolescent; Young Adult; Adult; Middle Aged; Endometriosis; Papio; MicroRNAs; Endometrium; Cell Line; Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3
PubMed: 37188982
DOI: 10.1007/s43032-023-01253-5 -
Primates; Journal of Primatology Jul 2023In this "tale" I summarize the major landmarks of my 50-year career watching wild olive baboons (Papio anubis). I review some major discoveries, like baboon hunting and... (Review)
Review
In this "tale" I summarize the major landmarks of my 50-year career watching wild olive baboons (Papio anubis). I review some major discoveries, like baboon hunting and baboon social strategies of competition and defense, that only a creature with a "mind" could manage. My efforts expanded beyond science to include community-based conservation because quite early on these baboons experienced many of the threats of the Anthropocene. My research expanded to include studying crop-raiding by naïve groups of baboons, the first scientific translocation of a primate species, and a detour to study the invasion of a non-indigenous cactus, Opuntia stricta. Throughout I worked with local communities to find solutions to problems that the baboons created, and also to develop new options for their livelihoods. As the baboon research became a long-term project, it depended on a team of Kenyan research assistants who made possible the simultaneous monitoring of up to six baboon troops as well as extensive ecological monitoring. Knowing the ecology, including the impact of the sedentarization of pastoralists in the area, meant we could interpret the process of invasion by a non-indigenous cactus for the first time. Ecological periods allowed comparisons of the same troop over time and different baboon groups during the same ecological phase. Although I began my work before hypothesis testing was the preferred approach, once the paradigm changed, I continued to study and learn what matters to baboons from their perspective. As a result of observing them for 50 years, the baboons showed me that evolution often does not work the way that I had been taught, and it took all my detours and studies to convince me that anecdotes, when they are systematic and comparative, are not stories to be discounted, but evidence, much like Darwin's natural history. Natural history can reassemble the pieces that quantitative hypothesis testing has teased apart to provide its larger meaning. Today, the lone scientist, like me, is an anachronism because no one person has expertise in the many fields needed to understand and save the primates we care about.
Topics: Animals; Papio; Kenya; Papio anubis
PubMed: 37165179
DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01060-1 -
Blood Advances Aug 2023Increased fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels reduce the symptoms of sickle cell disease (SCD) and increase the lifespan of patients. Because curative strategies for bone...
Increased fetal hemoglobin (HbF) levels reduce the symptoms of sickle cell disease (SCD) and increase the lifespan of patients. Because curative strategies for bone marrow transplantation and gene therapy technologies remain unavailable to a large number of patients, the development of a safe and effective pharmacological therapy that increases HbF offers the greatest potential for disease intervention. Although hydroxyurea increases HbF, a substantial proportion of patients fail to demonstrate an adequate response. Pharmacological inhibitors of DNA methyltransferase (DNMT1) and lysine-specific demethylase 1A (LSD1), 2 epigenome-modifying enzymes associated with the multiprotein corepressor complex recruited to the repressed γ-globin gene, are powerful in vivo inducers of HbF. The hematological side effects of these inhibitors limit feasible clinical exposures. We evaluated whether administering these drugs in combination could reduce the dose and/or time of exposure to any single agent to minimize adverse effects, while achieving additive or synergistic increases in HbF. The DNMT1 inhibitor decitabine (0.5 mg/kg per day) and the LSD1 inhibitor RN-1 (0.25 mg/kg per day) administered in combination 2 days per week produced synergistic increases in F-cells, F-reticulocytes, and γ-globin messenger RNA in healthy baboons. Large increases in HbF and F-cells were observed in healthy, nonanemic, and anemic (phlebotomized) baboons. Combinatorial therapy targeting epigenome-modifying enzymes could thus be a useful strategy for producing larger increases in HbF to modify the clinical course of SCD.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Decitabine; gamma-Globins; Epigenome; Fetal Hemoglobin; Anemia, Sickle Cell; Papio; Histone Demethylases
PubMed: 36884303
DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022009558