Measurement and analysis of hematology and blood chemistry parameters in northern pig-tailed macaques ( Macaca leonina )

Abstract

The pig-tailed macaque is an important non-human primate experimental animal model that has been widely used in the research of AIDS and other diseases. Pig-tailed macaques include Mentawai macaques (Macaca pagensis), Sunda pig-tailed macaques (M. nemestrina) and northern pig-tailed macaques (M. leonina). Northern pig-tailed macaques inhabit China and surrounding Southeast Asia countries. To our knowledge, no reports have been published regarding the hematology and blood chemistry parameters of northern pig-tailed macaques, which are important for the objective evaluation of experimental results. We measured and analyzed 18 hematology parameters and 13 blood chemistry parameters in juvenile (aged 2-4 years) and adult (aged 5-10 years) northern pig-tailed macaques. We found that red blood cells, hemoglobin and alkaline phosphatase values were lower in female macaques than male macaques in both juvenile and adult groups. White blood cells, lymphocyte, monocytes, platelet distribution width, cholesterol, aspartate aminotransferase and alkaline phosphatase values were higher in juvenile macaques than adult macaques, while creatinine and triglycerides values were lower in juvenile macaques. Mean corpuscular hemoglobin and creatinine values were positively correlated with weight in juvenile groups. In adult groups, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, percentage of granulocyte, hemoglobin and creatinine were also positively correlated with weight, and lymphocyte, percentage of lymphocyte, red cell distribution width, aspartate aminotransferase and cholesterol values were negatively correlated with weight. The results suggest that age, gender and weight of northern pig-tailed macaques affected their hematology and blood chemistry parameters. This hematological and blood chemistry study has great significance in biomedical research and animal models using northern pig-tailed macaque as an experimental animal.平顶猴是重要的非人灵长类实验动物, 广泛应用于艾滋病等重大疾病的动物模型研究。平顶猴分为明打威猴、巽他平顶猴和北平顶猴三个种。我国及周边东南亚国家分布的平顶猴为北平顶猴。该文测定和分析了青幼年 (2～4 a) 和成年 (5～10 a) 北平顶猴的血液学和血液生化指标参考值。结果表明个体性别、年龄和体重等对该指标均有影响。雌性个体的红细胞数、血红蛋白和碱性磷酸酶均低于雄性个体。青幼年个体的白细胞数、淋巴细胞数、单核细胞数、血小板分布宽度、碱性磷酸酶、天冬氨酸转氨酶和胆固醇均高于成年猴, 而肌酐和甘油三酯则低于成年猴。个体体重与青年猴的平均血红蛋白含量和肌酐正相关, 与成年猴的平均血红蛋白含量、粒细胞百分比、血红蛋白和肌酐正相关, 而与成年猴的淋巴细胞数、淋巴细胞百分比、红细胞分布宽度变异系数、天冬氨酸转氨酶和胆固醇负相关。该研究提供的北平顶猴血液学和血液生化指标参考值范围, 对其基础研究、疾病诊断和模型建立等具有重要意义。