Comparative analysis of serum lipid profiles in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary
Citation
Renfro EM, Anneke M, Minter LJ, Hirji I, Macintyre Z, Calvi T, McDaniel K, Drane A, Tremblay JC, Feltrer-Rambaud Y, and Ange-van Heugten K. 2025. Comparative analysis of serum lipid profiles in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary. In Treiber K, Brooks M, D’amato-Anderson J, Nylander J, Eds. Proceedings of the Sixteenth Conference on Zoo and Wildlife Nutrition, AZA Nutrition Advisory Group, Oklahoma City, OK
Abstract
Lipids function as the body’s long-term energy stores and circulate in the blood in various forms. Blood lipids and their metabolites may support early diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is a leading cause of chronic disease and mortality in non-human primates, particularly zoo-housed great apes. While elevated Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides are traditionally implicated in increased CVD risk in humans, their role in CVD in chimpanzees remains uncertain. This study evaluated cholesterol, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL), LDL, triglycerides and Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) in sanctuary-housed chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) at Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone. Blood was collected from the femoral vein into vacutainer tubes from 75 visually healthy chimpanzees (46 females, 29 males; ages 3-47 years). Samples were immediately centrifuged at the sanctuary and serum was analyzed at Choithram Hospital within 24 hours. Independent-samples t-tests were conducted via SAS (Cary, NC) to calculate means and standard errors of the means, as well as assess differences between sex (?=0.05). Total cholesterol was found to be higher in males than females (5.0±0.24 vs 4.6±0.13mmol/L, respectively, p=0.015) and LDL tended to be higher in males (2.8±0.15 vs 2.4±0.09mmol/L, respectively, p=0.059). No significant differences among the sexes were observed for the other metabolites. Notably, the mean VLDL concentration (1.8±0.09mmol/L) and mean triglyceride concentrations (3.8±0.20mmol/L) in this population exceeded the ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System) serum reference ranges for zoo-housed chimpanzees (0.22-1.56 mmol/L) and (0.37-2.58mmol/L) respectively. In contrast, total cholesterol, HDL and LDL fell within ZIMS reference ranges. Data reported here represent the first compilation of blood lipid data from a large population of sanctuary-housed Western Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in a range country. Given the elevated concentrations of triglycerides and VLDL compared to ZIMS reference values and the elevated LDL, triglycerides and VLDL compared to healthy human reference ranges, these chimps may have an increased health risk. Future studies are needed to ascertain whether these differences are healthy biomarker variations for this population related to diet, genetics, location, or subspecies or represent an elevated risk factor for disease.
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