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Abstract
The objective of the current study was to characterize luteal function in vervet monkeys. Urine from 12 adult female vervets housed at an academic research center was collected for 10 weeks from single-caged monkeys in order to assess evidence of luteal activity (ELA) as determined by urinary excretion of pregnanediol glucuronide (Pdg) and estrone conjugates (E1c). Dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was performed on the monkeys to assess body composition, bone density, and fat mass. Menstrual cyclicity was determined using records of vaginal bleeding. ELA was observed in 9 monkeys and was characterized by a late follicular rise in E1c followed by a progressive increase in Pdg excretion. Mean menstrual cycle length was 26.7 ± 3.8 days and the average day of luteal transition was 14 ± 1.8. Three monkeys without ELA had a clearly defined E1c rise (mean 12-fold from nadir) followed by an E1c drop that was not accompanied by Pdg rise and coincided with vaginal bleeding. Among the 9 ELA monkeys, excretion of E1c tended to negatively associate with fat mass, although this finding did not reach statistical significance (r = -0.61, p = 0.08). Similar to women, vervet monkeys experience an increase in E1c late in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle which is followed by a subsequent luteal Pdg peak. Assessment of urinary reproductive hormones allows for identification of cardinal menstrual cycle events; thus, the similarity of vervet cycles to human menstrual cycles makes them a useful model for obesity-related human reproductive impairment.
Declaration of interests: This work was supported by: NIH R21 1R21HD060944 (AJP and SEA), NIH U54 HD058155 Center for the Study of Reproductive Biology (NS and AJP) and the VRC grant RR019963 (currently OD010965). The authors report no conflicts of interests. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this paper.
Author contributions: Conceived and designed the experiments: SEA, AJP; Performed the experiments: MCK, MCM, JC, APB; Analyzed the data: MCK, MCM, JC, APB, BL, NG, NS, SEA, AJP; Contributed reagents/ materials/ analysis tools: BL, NG, NS; Wrote the manuscript: MCK, SEA, AJP.