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Research Paper|Volume 9, Issue 12|pp 2544—2558

The development of a specific pathogen free (SPF) barrier colony of marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) for aging research

Corinna N. Ross1,2, Steven Austad3, Kathy Brasky4, Celeste J. Brown5, Larry J. Forney5, Jonathan A. Gelfond2, Robert Lanford4, Arlan Richardson6, Suzette D. Tardif2,4
  • 1Department of Science and Mathematics, Texas A&M University San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78224, USA
  • 2Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, University of Texas Health San Antonio, TX 78245, USA
  • 3Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
  • 4Southwest National Primate Research Center, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78227, USA
  • 5Department of Biological Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
  • 6Reynolds Oklahoma Center on Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
Received: September 28, 2017Accepted: December 1, 2017Published: December 7, 2017
https://doi.org/10.18632/aging.101340

Copyright: © 2017 Ross et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Abstract

A specific pathogen free (SPF) barrier colony of breeding marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) was established at the Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies. Rodent and other animal models maintained as SPF barrier colonies have demonstrated improved health and lengthened lifespans enhancing the quality and repeatability of aging research. The marmosets were screened for two viruses and several bacterial pathogens prior to establishing the new SPF colony. Twelve founding animals successfully established a breeding colony with increased reproductive success, improved health parameters, and increased median lifespan when compared to a conventionally housed, open colony. The improved health and longevity of marmosets from the SPF barrier colony suggests that such management can be used to produce a unique resource for future studies of aging processes in a nonhuman primate model.