Leptin, body composition, adrenal and gonadal hormones among captive male baboons.
Morphometric and hormonal measures were collected from 21 captive savanna baboons (Papio cynocephalus) maintained at the Tulane National Primate Research Center in order to determine age-related patterns in leptin levels over the life course as well as their relationships to body composition and adrenal and gonadal steroids. Comparison of leptin levels between peri-pubertal, adolescent, young adult, and fully mature males show lower levels among adolescent as compared with young adult males (P = 0.05 by Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA). In addition, abdominal fat varied among age groups (P = 0.003 by Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA) with the peri-pubertal animals lower than the adolescents, young adults, and prime adults. However leptin was not related to any measure of body composition, including abdominal fat, or to adrenal hormones (dehydroepiandrosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate, and cortisol) or gonadal hormones (testosterone and estradiol). Age-related changes in leptin appear similar to those reported for captive rhesus macaques, while the failure to find an association between leptin and abdominal fat is interestingly different. These results confirm elevated levels of leptin in captive baboons compared with their wild counterparts and suggest that they result from changes in fetal development.
Muehlenbein
M P
MP
Department of Anthropology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8277, USA. michael.m@snet.net
Campbell
B C
BC
Richards
R J
RJ
Svec
F
F
Falkenstein
K P
KP
Murchison
M A
MA
Myers
L
L
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D042341:Gonadal Hormones / Q000378:metabolism*; D020738:Leptin / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010215:Papio / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D042341:Gonadal Hormones; D020738:Leptin