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Skeletal Effects of Aging and Menopausal Status in Female Rhesus Macaques¹

Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin (R.J.C., J.W.K., D.H.A., N.B.), Madison, Wisconsin 53715; the Departments of Medicine (J.W.K.) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (D.H.A.) and the Institute on Aging (N.B.), University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706; and the Molecular Physiology and Genetics Section, Intramural Research Program, Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health (M.A.L.), Baltimore, Maryland 21224

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Joseph W. Kemnitz, Ph.D., Wisconsin Regional Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin, 1223 Capitol Court, Madison, Wisconsin 53715-1299.

To further define the nonhuman primate as a model of the adult human skeleton, we explored the impact of growth, natural menopause, and osteoarthritis on bone mass, serum markers of bone turnover (osteocalcin and C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen) and measures of skeletal relevance (PTH, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, total alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphorus, creatinine, and albumin). Fifty-eight female (aged 4–30 yr) rhesus macaques were defined as growing (G; n = 12; 10 yr old), adult premenopausal (APre; n = 30; >10 yr old; eumenorrheic, high serum estradiol and low FSH), or postmenopausal (Post; n = 16; amenorrheic for at least 1 yr, with low serum estradiol and high FSH). Total body and posterior-anterior spinal bone masses were lower in G than APre animals (P < 0.05). Post females had lower total body, distal radius, and spinal bone mass than premenopausal animals (P < 0.05). Osteocalcin was higher in Post than APre animals (P < 0.01). Other measures showed no relationship with menopausal status. In older monkeys, spinal osteoarthritis became common, causing increased dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry-measured bone mass in the lumbar spinal posterior-anterior projection. In conclusion, after natural menopause, rhesus monkeys have lower bone mass and higher skeletal turnover without alteration of the calcium-vitamin D axis. As such, they are an excellent model of human estrogen-depletion bone loss.

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