The Rhesus Macaque as an Animal Model for Human Nutrition: An Ecological-Evolutionary Perspective.
Zhenwei Cui, Yunlong Dong, Jonathan Sholl, Jiqi Lu, David Raubenheimer
Author Information
Zhenwei Cui: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Yunlong Dong: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
Jonathan Sholl: ImmunoConcept Lab, Universit�� de Bordeaux, Coll��ge Sciences de la Sant��, CNRS UMR 5164, Bordeaux, France.
Jiqi Lu: Institute of Biodiversity and Ecology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.
David Raubenheimer: Charles Perkins Centre, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; email: david.raubenheimer@sydney.edu.au.
Nutrition is a complex and contested area in biomedicine, which requires diverse evidence sources. Nonhuman primate models are considered an important biomedical research tool because of their biological similarities to humans, but they are typically used with little explicit consideration of their ecology and evolution. Using the rhesus macaque (RM), we consider the potential of nutritional ecology for enriching the use of primates as models for human nutrition. We introduce some relevant aspects of RM evolutionary and social ecology and discuss two examples where they have been used in biomedical research: obesity and aging. We next consider how insights from nutritional ecology can help inform and direct the use of RM as a biomedical model. We conclude by illustrating how conceptual tools might inform the use of RM as a model for human nutrition and extracting insights from RM that might be relevant to broader theoretical considerations around animal model systems.
