Departamento de Etología, Instituto Nacional de Psiquiatría, Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz, Tlalpan, México, DF, México.
Theriogenology. 2010 Mar 1;73(4):468-73. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2009.09.029. Epub 2009 Dec 5.
The objective of this study was to investigate whether sex steroids decreased with age in female black-handed spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi). Fecal concentrations of 17beta-estradiol and progesterone (five samples/wk) and the number of ovulatory and anovulatory cycles were compared between adult (n=3) and aged females (n=2). All animals (regardless of age) had higher 17beta-estradiol concentrations during the fertile than the nonfertile phases. However, during the fertile phase, concentrations of this hormone were significantly higher in adult females. Conversely, progesterone concentrations varied normally throughout the menstrual cycle in both adult and aged animals, with no significant difference between age classes. Similarly, there was no significant effect of age on the number of ovulatory and anovulatory cycles. In conclusion, we inferred that the aged female spider monkeys did not reach menopause, instead they remained in a perimenopausal period characterized by changes in fecal concentrations of ovarian steroids and hypothalamus-hypophysis-ovary axis activity, as well as irregular menstrual flows, for prolonged intervals.
本研究旨在探讨雌性黑掌蜘蛛猴（Ateles geoffroyi）的性激素是否随年龄增长而下降。比较了成年（n=3）和老年（n=2）雌性个体每周 5 次的粪便中 17β-雌二醇和孕酮浓度以及排卵和无排卵周期的数量。所有动物（无论年龄大小）在生育期的 17β-雌二醇浓度均高于非生育期。然而，在生育期，成年雌性个体的这种激素浓度明显更高。相反，成年和老年动物的孕酮浓度在整个月经周期中正常变化，两个年龄组之间没有显著差异。同样，年龄对排卵和无排卵周期的数量也没有显著影响。综上所述，我们推断老年雌性蜘蛛猴并未进入绝经期，而是处于围绝经期，其特点是粪便中卵巢类固醇和下丘脑-垂体-卵巢轴活性的变化，以及月经不规律，持续时间较长。
