Monkey diet 5038

The design of this study was previously described (30 (link)) as follows: Adult male African green monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops) (n = 15, age 5–10 years) were obtained from St. Kitts Island. Monkeys were housed in an Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC)-accredited facility under the direct care of the Wake Forest School of Medicine Animal Resources Program and euthanized at the termination of the study. All experiments were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees of Wake Forest School of Medicine. Monkeys were singly housed in climate-controlled conditions with a 12 h light and dark cycle. The monkeys were provided water ad libitum and were initially fed a weighed amount of a chow diet (Monkey Diet 5038, Lab Diet) twice daily, such that their daily caloric intake was 70 kcal day/kg body weight. During the 10-week experimental diet feeding phase, the monkeys were fed twice daily with a weighed amount of semi-synthetic diet containing 0.002 (Lo), 0.2 (Med), or 0.4 (Hi) mg cholesterol/Kcal, which was prepared at the Wake Forest Primate Center Diet Laboratory. Daily caloric intake was 90 kcal/day/kg body weight. Fecal samples were collected before and at the completion of the 10-week experimental diet feeding and stored at −20°C until extraction.

Twelve male AGMs (Chlorocebus sabaeus) were included in this study. AGMs were fed and housed according to regulations set forth by the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Animal Welfare Act⁶⁵ . All AGMs included in this study were social housed (paired) in stainless steel cages, had 12/12 light cycle, were fed twice daily with regular chow (Monkey Diet 5038, LabDiet, St Louis, MO, USA), and water was provided ad libitum. A variety of environmental enrichment strategies were employed. Furthermore, AGMs were observed twice daily, and any signs of disease or discomfort were reported to veterinarians for evaluation. For sample collection, AGMs were anesthetized with 10 mg/kg ketamine HCl (Park-Davis, Morris Plains, NJ, USA) or 0.7 mg/kg tiletamine HCl and zolazepam (Telazol, Fort Dodge Animal Health, Fort Dodge, IA) injected intramuscularly. They were euthanized by intravenous (iv) administration of barbiturates, prior to the onset of any clinical signs of disease.