Understanding type 2 diabetes and aging: lessons from nonhuman primates.

Background: The increase in global prevalence of obesity and diabetes, and the growth of the elderly population worldwide emphasize the biomedical research need for an animal model which exhibits close similarity to human disease and aging processes. The rhesus monkey develops obesity and type 2 diabetes spontaneously and naturally when ad libitum fed, within a lifespan which is about a third that of the human. Objective: To characterize the genetic, structural, biochemical and physiological changes occurring in monkeys who age successfully and in those who develop obesity and type 2 diabetes. Results: The rhesus monkey demonstrates the same signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes, including macroand microvascular complications, as observed in humans. Age-related changes, potential biomarkers, and proposed biochemical pathways of aging can be readily investigated, with outcomes very similar to those in humans. Conclusion: The rhesus monkey model imparts valuable insights to normal and pathological processes accompanying aging and type 2 diabetes. It also provides a valuable tool by which to test novel therapeutic interventions which otherwise can not be performed in humans due to ethical considerations, but where results are highly translatable.