title: Characterization of obesity in Japanese monkeys (Macaca fuscata) in a pedigreed colony.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Japanese monkey, Macaca fuscata, is recognized as the monkey species inhabiting the northernmost area in the world, and thus likely to possess unique fat-depositing mechanisms to resist cold weather in winter. We report that obese females are present in the Wakasa group of Japanese monkey reared in an open enclosure of the Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eight of 12 females were categorized as obese, showing percentage body fat of over 22%. The levels of serum leptin (mean +/- SD, 4.9 +/- 2.3 ng/ml) measured in these obese monkeys were significantly higher than those of non-obese peers of the same group (n = 4; 1.2 +/- 0.5 ng/ml) and another Japanese monkey group (Takahama, n = 14; 0.8 +/- 0.25 ng/ml); however, serum levels of adiponectin, insulin, glucose, hemoglobin A1c, and fructosamine did not differ between obese and non-obese monkeys. Few serum lipid parameters such as triglyceride and cholesterol showed lower levels in obese monkeys than their non-obese peers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results show that these obese monkeys in the Wakasa group have not developed obesity-related diseases/disorders such as diabetes. In the Wakasa group, the frequency of obese individuals was high in some maternal lineages, suggesting that genetic factors responsible for obesity may have been inherited in these lineages.
authors.affiliation: Center for Human Evolution Modeling Research, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Atsunori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higashino
authors.forename: Kaori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamanaka
authors.forename: Masamitsu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abe
authors.forename: Mayumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Kyung Hwa
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Shunji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.forename: Juri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Yuzuru
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kageyama
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001835:Body Weight; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D020738:Leptin / Q000097:blood; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008251:Macaca / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000097:blood / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D009929:Organ Size; D010375:Pedigree
chemical_list: D001786:Blood Glucose; D016207:Cytokines; D007328:Insulin; D020738:Leptin; D008055:Lipids