Blood chemistry and hematology of mother reared compared with nursery reared M. nemestrina from 2-10 years of age (2003)

Reinwater, E. J., Sackett, G. P.

Abstract

Research on prenatal stress and differential rearing in nonhuman primates has also shown effects on immunological and other health indices at later ages. We studied potential links between early infant experience and later biochemical factors in mother-social and nursery-peer raised nemestrina. Values in our Computer Animal Records entered for non-clinical purposes were compared at ages 2-10 years, when the primary housing for all animals was in social groups. Analyses were made on 477 mother-reared and 193 nursery-reared blood chemistries and 2107 mother-reared and 810 nursery-reared hematologies. .. Differences during years 2-3 included higher mother-reared hemoglobin in females and phosphorus in males, while nursery-reared animals had higher calcium in both sexes and neutrophils in females. After 5 years of age, mother reared animals had higher percentage of cells in their blood (PCV) in females, erythrocytes in both sexes, neutrophils in males and hemoglobin in females. Nursery-reared monkeys had higher corpuscular volume (MCV) in males and the SGOT liver enzyme in females. These results suggest that infancy conditions can affect typical values of some basic chemical properties of the body through at least the middle adult period.