Abstract P168: Prevalence of Spontaneous Hypertension in African Green Monkeys is Age-related

Abstract

Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus , the African Green Monkey (AGM), is a novel translational model of hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The AGM is a diurnal, primarily bipedal nonhuman primate, in which ~ 1/3 of the population exhibits spontaneous hypertension (systolic blood pressure > 140mmHg). Since age and sex are related to the development of human hypertension, we hypothesized that age and sex may be crucial to the development of hypertension in this primate species. Hypertension prevalence was compared in animals with known ages or highly confident age estimates. Age estimates were performed by staff with over 50 years combined experience working with AGMs. Behavior, weight, incisor length, fur coarseness, tail stiffness, and troop hierarchy were used to reasonably estimate an animal’s age. Animals were binned into 1 of 4 age categories: juvenile, 0-4 years; young adult, 5-10 years; adult, 11-15 years; or mature adult, ≥ 16 years. Overall, hypertensive (HT) AGMs comprised 31.3±22.8 % (mean± 95%CI) of the juvenile group, n=16; 31.9±6.6% of the young adult group, n=244; 48.3±12.6% of the adult group, n=60; and 61±18.1% of the mature adult group, n=28. The prevalence of HT is greater in the adult and mature adult groups (Z = -2.3, p<0.05; Z = -2.9, p<0.05, respectively) compared to the young adult age group. No significant differences in prevalence were found between sexes within the same age (p>0.05). In males, HT animals comprised: 30±28.4% of the juvenile group, n=10; 28.9±8.1% of the young adult group, n=121; 50±13.6% of the adult group, n=52; and 61.5±18.7% of the mature adult group, n=26. In females, HT animals comprised: 33.3±38.1% of the juvenile group, n=6; 36.9±11.1% of the young adult group, n=73; 37.5±33.5% of the adult group, n=8; and 50±50% of the mature adult group, n=2. In males, the prevalence of HT is increased in the adult (Z = -2.6, p<0.05) and the mature adult age groups (Z = -3.1, p<0.05) compared to the young adult group. No differences were found in female age groups. Similar to humans, age is a strong contributor to the development of spontaneous hypertension in the AGM. Sex may contribute to the development of AGM spontaneous hypertension and future studies will assess the impact of age, sex hormones, and hypertension in female AGMs.