title: Body temperature and physical activity correlates of the menstrual cycle in Chacma Baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus).
abstract: We investigated the temporal relationship between abdominal temperature, physical activity, perineal swelling, and urinary progesterone and estradiol concentrations over the menstrual cycle in unrestrained captive baboons. Using a miniature temperature-sensitive data logger surgically implanted in the abdominal cavity and an activity data logger implanted subcutaneously on the trunk, we measured, continuously over 6 months at 10-min intervals, abdominal temperature and physical activity patterns in four female adult baboons Papio hamadryas ursinus (12.9-19.9 kg), in cages in an indoor animal facility (22-25°C). We monitored menstrual bleeding and perineal swelling changes, and measured urinary progesterone and estradiol concentrations, daily for up to 6 months, to ascertain the stage and length of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle was 36 ± 2 days (mean ± SD) long and the baboons exhibited cyclic changes in perineal swellings, abdominal temperature, physical activity, urinary progesterone, and estradiol concentrations over the cycle. Mean 24-hr abdominal temperature during the luteal phase was significantly higher than during the periovulatory phase (ANOVA, F((2, 9)) = 4.7; P = 0.04), but not different to that during the proliferative phase. Physical activity followed a similar pattern, with mean 24-hr physical activity almost twice as high in the luteal than in the periovulatory phase (ANOVA, P = 0.58; F((2, 12)) = 5.8). We have characterized correlates of the menstrual cycle in baboons and shown, for the first time, a rhythm of physical activity and abdominal temperature over the menstrual cycle, with a nadir of temperature and activity at ovulation.
authors.affiliation: Brain Function Research Group, School of Physiology, University of the Witwatersrand, Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa. Trevor.Nyakudya@students.wits.ac.za
authors.forename: Trevor T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Nyakudya
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuller
authors.forename: Leith C R
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Shane K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.forename: Duncan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mitchell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D004958:Estradiol / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D008597:Menstrual Cycle; D009043:Motor Activity; D010060:Ovulation; D048549:Papio ursinus / Q000502:physiology*; D010502:Perineum / Q000502:physiology; D011374:Progesterone / Q000652:urine
chemical_list: D011374:Progesterone; D004958:Estradiol