Effects of Sex,Age and Dietary Modification on Plasma Lipids and Lipoproteins of Macaca nemestrina 1

Abstract

Summary

Female M. nemestrina fed a Monkey Chow diet had higher TPC and LDL + VLDL-chol concentrations than males. When the animals were fed a fat and cholesterol-enriched Monkey Chow diet, there were increases in TPC, LDL + VLDL-chol, and HDL-chol concentrations in both sexes. However, the increase in TPC and LDL + VLDL-chol was greater in males than in females. Older males fed the Monkey Chow diet had lower TPC and LDL + VLDL-chol levels than younger males, while no trend was observed in females fed the same diet. When fed the enriched diet, TPC and LDL + VLDL-chol concentrations increased with advancing, age in both sexes, although males had a greater proportion of LDL-VLDL-chol than females. These data suggest the potential for male-female differences in atherosclerosis in this species. No correlation was found between basal TPC concentrations and the magnitude of response of TPC levels to the fat and cholesterol enriched diet, indicating that the response of individual animals cannot be predicted on the basis of basal concentrations. The lack of correlation between these two parameters also suggests that different physiological mechanisms control TPC concentrations in the presence or absence of dietary cholesterol.

The authors gratefully acknowledge Drs. Thomas B. Clarkson, Richard W. St. Clair, Lawrence L. Rudel, Orville A. Smith, and Gerald A. Blakley for their advice and support throughout this study and Mr. Timothy Beamer, Mrs. Catherine S. Butler, and Mrs. Linda Trust for their technical contributions.