Bone mineral density, osteopenia, and osteoporosis in the rhesus macaques of Cayo Santiago

Bibliographic Data

ID5237435
AuthorsAntonietta M Cerroni (University of Toronto), George A Tomlinson, George Tomlinson (0000-0002-9328-6399, Mount Sinai Hospital), Jean E Turnquist (University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus), Marc D Grynpas (0000-0002-6726-6351, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume113
Issue3
Pages389-410
Publication date2000-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/1096-8644(200011)113:3<389::aid-ajpa9>3.0.co;2-i
PMID11042540
OpenAlexW1982589480
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited38

This cross-sectional study investigates metabolic bone disease and the relationship between age and bone mineral density (BMD) in males and females of a large, well-documented skeletal population of free-ranging rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta), from the Caribbean Primate Research Center Museum collection from Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. The sample consists of 254 individuals aged 1.0-20+ years. The data consist of measurements of bone mineral content and bone mineral density, obtained from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), of the last lumbar vertebra from each monkey. The pattern of BMD differs between male and female rhesus macaques. Females exhibit an initial increase in BMD with age, with peak bone density occurring around age 9.5 years, and remaining constant until 17.2 years, after which there is a steady decline in BMD. Males acquire bone mass at a faster rate, and attain a higher peak BMD at an earlier age than do females, at around 7 years of age, and BMD remains relatively constant between ages 7-18.5 years. After age 7 there is no apparent effect of age on BMD in the males of this sample; males older than 18.5 years were excluded due to the presence of vertebral osteophytosis, which interferes with DEXA. The combined frequency of osteopenia and osteoporosis in this population is 12.4%. BMD values of monkeys with vertebral wedge fractures are generally higher than those of virtually all of the nonfractured osteopenic/osteoporotic individuals, thus supporting the view that BMD as measured by DEXA is a useful but imperfect predictor of fracture risk, and that low BMD may not always precede fractures in vertebral bones. Other factors such as bone quality (i.e., trabecular connectivity) should also be considered. The skeletal integrity of a vertebra may be compromised by the loss of key trabeculae, resulting in structural failure, but the spine may still show a BMD value within normal limits, or within the range of osteopenia.

Bone density · Bone mineral · Osteopenia · Osteoporosis · Population · Bone and Joint Diseases · Bone health and osteoporosis research · Bone Metabolism and Diseases · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Physiology

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