Aging in the musculoskeletal system of rhesus monkeys: III. Bone loss.

It is well established that aging of the human skeleton includes the loss of bone mass or density, but little comparative information on age-related osteopenia in other primates is available. In order to determine whether bone loss occurs in normally locomoting nonhuman primates, radiographs of 139 rhesus monkey skeletons from the Cayo Santiago collection were examined, and measures of percent cortical bone (PCT) at the midshaft of second metacarpals, humeri, and femora were calculated. An age-related osteopenia was observed in the metacarpal of adult female macaques, although much individual variation was present. This variability could not be explained by reproductive history (number of offspring), matrilineal affiliation, or degree of osteoarthrosis. However, in a subsample of 15 animals, females who had given birth in the three months prior to death showed lower PCTs than those who had not conceived in the previous mating season. In adult males, PCT did not vary significantly with age, but males that weighed less and those with no/little osteoarthrosis showed lower PCTs than heavier or more arthritic animals, respectively. The multifactorial nature of the variation in PCT observed here suggests that similar processes of bone behavior are involved in the skeletal aging of both humans and rhesus monkeys.