This core serves as a national resource for the long-term care and study of animals after irradiation, since 2007.
Because of the high degree of genetic and physiologic similarity of nonhuman primates to human beings, this resource is a critical component of translational long-term assessment of candidate radiation mitigators, in an experimental setting under which relevant doses of whole-body irradiation and partial body irradiation with 5% bone marrow sparing can be studied in otherwise healthy subjects.
A NIAID national resource to study late effects of acute irradiation
- Donated rhesus monkeys (~200 live animals cared for on-site as well as archived tissues from ~100 deceased animals)
- Total body radiation doses of 1.1 – 8.5 Gy (median 6.5 Gy)
- Partial body radiation doses 10-10.75 Gy (PBI 5% bone marrow sparing)
- 0.3 – 14.4 years post irradiation (median 5.6 years)
- 2:1 Male:Female ratio
- ~ 40% were part of mitigator studies prior to joining the cohort
Multidisciplinary approach
- Clinical daily observations, clinical pathology
- Imaging (MRI, CT, DEXA)
- Immune (lymphocyte phenotyping, vaccination responses)
- Pathology
- Sequencing
Multiple co-morbidities
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Immune “blind spots”
- Chronic systemic inflammation
- Neoplasms
- Brain injury/cognitive decline
- Cataracts
- Gonadal atrophy
- Lung injury
- Osteopenia
- Gastrointestinal disease
Core investigators have unique skills in the experimental use and clinical medicine of nonhuman primates including:
- Veterinary medical care and management of myelosuppressed animals
- Comparative pathology of primates
- Pathology of radiation injury
- Biochemistry
- Clinical pathology and endocrinology of primates
- Adaptation of molecular biologic techniques to the primate model
- Microbiome sequencing and analysis
Core capabilities include:
- Acquisition long term care of nonhuman primates
- Minimally invasive studies (vaccination, blood collection, biopsy)
- Exposure of animals to radiation
- Administration of therapeutic interventions
- Clinical and pathologic assessments of treatment outcomes, including necropsy/tissue collection and sharing for characterization of long term radiation responses and assessment of mitigating interventions.
- Sharing of data and samples (CBC/Chem data, imaging data [CT, MRI, DEXA] and fluid and tissue samples).
The Core also provides extensive data management services for primate studies, including data and tissue sharing through our Core samples request form.