Arroyo Juan Pablo, Alvarez Addaline, Alvarez Lori, Hickmott Alexana J, Mustoe Aaryn C, Brasky Kathy, Reveles Kelly R, Ridenhour Benjamin J, Amato Katherine R, Power Michael L, Ross Corinna N
Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA.
College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.
Am J Primatol. 2025 Aug;87(8):e70068. doi: 10.1002/ajp.70068.
Assessing body weight is common practice for monitoring health in common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus). Body composition analysis via quantitative magnetic resonance (QMR) is a more in-depth assessment allowing measurements of lean and fat mass, but it is expensive and remains unavailable to most. Alternatively, body condition scoring (BCS) is an instrument-free method for visually inspecting and palpating lean and fat tissue. Animals are rated for lean and fat mass abundance, using an ordinal scale with species-specific descriptions as reference. However, modified BCS systems developed for other species are being used, because no BCS system has been fully validated for marmosets. The accuracy of BCS in identifying marmosets with poor body condition or obesity remains unknown. We assessed an adapted BCS for marmosets (n = 68, 2-16 years). Objectives were to (1) determine whether BCS predicts body weight and body composition, and (2) evaluate the performance of BCS as a screening test for low body condition and obesity in marmosets, in comparison to QMR body composition analysis. BCS predicted body weight and body composition (F(15, 166) = 7.51, Wilks' Λ = 0.240, p < 0.001), and was better at predicting low lean mass and obesity, than at predicting low adiposity. Marmosets with low BCS had higher odds of low lean mass (B = 3.37, (95% CI, 0.95-5.78), OR = 29.0, p = 0.006). Marmosets with excessively high BCS had higher odds of obesity (B = 2.72, (95% CI, 1.07-4.38), OR = 15.23, p = 0.001). The accuracy rates of BCS in identifying low body condition (79.4%-91.2%) and obesity (77.9%) suggest that it can serve as an instrument-free screening method in marmosets.
评估普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）的体重是监测其健康状况的常见做法。通过定量磁共振（QMR）进行身体成分分析是一种更深入的评估方法，可以测量瘦体重和脂肪量，但这种方法成本高昂，大多数情况下无法使用。另外，身体状况评分（BCS）是一种无需仪器的方法，通过视觉检查和触诊来评估瘦组织和脂肪组织。根据一个具有物种特异性描述的序数量表，对动物的瘦体重和脂肪量丰富程度进行评分。然而，由于尚未有针对普通狨猴的BCS系统得到充分验证，目前使用的是为其他物种开发的改良BCS系统。BCS在识别身体状况不佳或肥胖的普通狨猴方面的准确性仍然未知。我们评估了一种适用于普通狨猴的BCS（n = 68，年龄2 - 16岁）。目的是：（1）确定BCS是否能预测体重和身体成分；（2）与QMR身体成分分析相比，评估BCS作为普通狨猴低身体状况和肥胖筛查测试的性能。BCS能够预测体重和身体成分（F(15, 166) = 7.51，威尔克斯' Λ = 0.240，p < 0.001），并且在预测低瘦体重和肥胖方面比预测低脂肪量表现更好。BCS较低的普通狨猴出现低瘦体重的几率更高（B = 3.37，（95%置信区间，0.95 - 5.78），OR = 29.0，p = 0.006）。BCS过高的普通狨猴出现肥胖的几率更高（B = 2.72，（95%置信区间，1.07 - 4.38），OR = 15.23，p = 0.001）。BCS识别低身体状况（79.4% - 91.2%）和肥胖（77.9%）的准确率表明，它可以作为普通狨猴的一种无需仪器的筛查方法。
