Effect of Chronic Social Stress on Prenatal Transfer of Antitetanus Immunity in Captive Breeding Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta)

AbstractIn many social mammals, social adversity predicts compromised health and reduced fitness. These effects are thought to be driven in part by chronic social stress, but their molecular underpinnings are not well understood. Recent work suggests that chronic stress can affect mitochondrial copy number, heteroplasmy rates, and function. Here, we tested the first two possibilities, for the first time in nonhuman primates. We manipulated dominance rank in captive female rhesus macaques (n=45), where low rank induces chronic social stress, and measured mitochondrial DNA copy number and heteroplasmy in five peripheral blood mononuclear cell types from each study subject. We found no effect of dominance rank on either mtDNA copy number or heteroplasmy rates. However, grooming rates, a measure of affiliative social behavior predicted by high social status, was positively associated with mtDNA copy number in B cells, cytotoxic T cells, and monocytes. Our results suggest that social interactions can influence mtDNA regulation in immune cells. Further, they indicate the importance of considering both affiliative and competitive interactions in investigating this relationship.

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Utility of Automated Feeding Data to Detect Social Instability in a Captive Breeding Colony of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta): A Case Study of Intrafamily Aggression

Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science ◽

10.30802/aalas-jaalas-18-000139 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

pp. 46-57

Author(s):

Juliane R Johnston ◽

Tracy L Meeker ◽

Jacklyn K Ramsey ◽

Maria M Crane ◽

Joyce k cohen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Social Stress ◽

Captive Breeding ◽

Acute Stress ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

Caloric Intake ◽

Female Dominance ◽

Entire Group ◽

Social Instability ◽

Or Groups ◽

Caloric Consumption

Some captive breeding colonies of rhesus macaques live in large outdoor multimale, multifemale social groups. These groups are composed of several matrilineal families, governed by a clear female dominance hierarchy. Aggression within the same or between different matrilineal families due to social instability can result in trauma and mortality. Therefore, a primary management goal is to detect emerging social unrest before the onset of significant fighting and wounding. Accordingly, groups are monitored routinely for changes in dominance and alliance relations as well as for increases in trauma frequency and severity. Decreased food intake is a normal physiologic response to acute stress; therefore, inappetence in key animals or groups of monkeys might be used as an indicator of increased social stress and emerging instability. An incident of intrafamily aggression occurred recently in a breeding group at our facility and resulted in considerable fighting. Because this compound was equipped with an automated feeding system that tracks the caloric intake of individual animals, we retrospectively analyzed feeding data to determine whether significant reduction in caloric consumption occurred prior to the onset of aggression, compared with baseline values. Neither the entire group nor individual families showed any significant differences in total caloric intake between baseline and previous 24 h values; however, the affected family exhibited a 20% reduction in total caloric during the 24 h prior to the aggression. Most notably, the deposed subfamily showed a marked 58% reduction in caloric intake during the prior 24 h, whereas remaining subfamilies showed no significant changes in intake. High-ranking animals of the group, including the α female, β female, and α male, similarly exhibited marked decreases in caloric intake during that period. These findings indicate that automated feeders can assist management staff with monitoring social stability in breeding colonies of rhesus macaque.

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CSF 5-HIAA concentration as an early screening tool for predicting significant life history outcomes in female specific-pathogen-free (SPF) rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) maintained in captive breeding groups

Journal of Medical Primatology ◽

10.1034/j.1600-0684.2003.00013.x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 95-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

G.C. Westergaard ◽

A. Cleveland ◽

M.K. Trenkle ◽

I.D. Lussier ◽

J.D. Higley

Keyword(s):

Macaca Mulatta ◽

Captive Breeding ◽

Screening Tool ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

Specific Pathogen Free ◽

Early Screening ◽

Specific Pathogen ◽

Significant Life ◽

Breeding Groups ◽

Female Specific

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Social affiliation predicts mitochondrial DNA copy number in female rhesus macaques

Biology Letters ◽

10.1098/rsbl.2018.0643 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 20180643 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Reena Debray ◽

Noah Snyder-Mackler ◽

Jordan N. Kohn ◽

Mark E. Wilson ◽

Luis B. Barreiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Dna ◽

Social Stress ◽

Copy Number ◽

Rhesus Macaques ◽

Dominance Rank ◽

Mtdna Copy Number ◽

Chronic Social Stress ◽

Mitochondrial Dna Copy Number ◽

Female Rhesus ◽

Female Rhesus Macaques

In many social mammals, social adversity predicts compromised health and reduced fitness. These effects are thought to be driven in part by chronic social stress, but their molecular underpinnings are not well understood. Recent work suggests that chronic stress can affect mitochondrial copy number, heteroplasmy rates and function. Here, we tested the first two possibilities for the first time in non-human primates. We manipulated dominance rank in captive female rhesus macaques ( n = 45), where low rank induces chronic social stress, and measured mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number and heteroplasmy in five peripheral blood mononuclear cell types from each study subject. We found no effect of dominance rank on either mtDNA copy number or heteroplasmy rates. However, grooming rate, a measure of affiliative social behaviour predicted by high social status, was positively associated with mtDNA copy number in B cells, cytotoxic T cells and monocytes. Our results suggest that social interactions can influence mtDNA regulation in immune cells. Further, they indicate the importance of considering both affiliative and competitive interactions in investigating this relationship.

Download Full-text