Increased Adiposity in Female Rhesus Monkeys Exposed to Androgen Excess During Early Gestation

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of early-gestational androgen excess on adult body fat distribution in female rhesus monkeys. Methods: Six midreproductive-aged, adult, female rhesus monkeys that were exposed to androgen excess started during the first one-third of gestation were pair-matched to control women by age, body weight, and body mass index. Body composition was determined using somatometrics, dual x-ray absorptiometry, and computed tomography. Results: Total abdominal and intra-abdominal fat depots are increased in adult female rhesus monkeys exposed to prenatal androgen excess. Discussion: Early gestational androgen excess in female rhesus monkeys causes a preferential accumulation of total abdominal and intra-abdominal fat during adulthood. Fat accumulation in these regions is independent of total body adiposity, occurring throughout the spectrum of body mass index in these animals. This study establishes alterations in abdominal adiposity as another consequence of prenatal androgen excess in female rhesus monkeys that may contribute to the impaired insulin secretion observed in these animals during adulthood.