Effect of short-term pair housing of juvenile rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on immunologic parameters.

Social housing of nonhuman primates (NHP) in an infectious disease setting presents unique challenges, and individual housing is often scientifically justified. At our institute, we recognized an opportunity to limit individual housing to the minimal period necessary by pair-housing NHP after quarantine and separating them just before they are moved into holding rooms for infectious disease studies. To alleviate concerns that pair-housing followed by separation affects the immune system of NHP and makes them unfit as research candidates, we designed a short-term pair-housing study. After a 3-wk baseline period, juvenile rhesus macaques (age, 3 to 4 y) were paired for 7 wk and then separated for 7 wk. During the study, serum cortisol, lymphocyte subsets, and proinflammatory cytokines were measured. The average values for all parameters were significantly lower after separation than during the baseline period. We conclude that short-term pair housing is a viable option at our institute for social housing of NHP.

Giant thoracic schwannoma in a rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta).

A 15-y-old male rhesus macaque with a 3-d history of labored breathing, was culled from a nonhuman primate research colony after thoracic radiographs and exploratory surgery revealed a 10-cm, well-circumscribed space-occupying mass in the posterior thoracic cavity. The multilobulated cystic and necrotic neoplasm was composed of interlacing streams and fascicles of neoplastic spindle cells arranged in Antoni A, and less commonly, Antoni B patterns. Verocay bodies were present also. The neoplasm was encapsulated mostly, and histomorphologic features were benign. Immunohistochemistry indicated that neoplastic cells were positive for vimentin, S100, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and nerve growth factor receptor. Reticulin histochemical staining and immunohistochemical stains for collagen IV and laminin showed a prominent basal lamina surrounding the neoplastic cells. The histologic features and results of the immunohistochemical stains confirmed peripheral nerve origin and were consistent with schwannoma. To our knowledge, this is the first case of thoracic schwannoma in a rhesus macaque and the second reported case of schwannoma in a nonhuman primate.