TPC NEWS Winter 1983 Vol.2 No. 3
(Whole Number 4)
(English
Summary)
Page-3
Essay: Do monkeys have a mind or a heart?
Monkey cages, at TPC, are lined up in very clean rooms where the air is
automatically conditioned night and day. Under
these environmental conditions, monkeys are fed, observed, examined and treated,
according to the regular care and management procedures.
They have well bred and grown up, being over two thousand in number
today. Dr. 0. A. Smith, Director of
the Regional Primate Research Center at the University of Washington, USA,
visited TPC the other day. Looking
at the sight of the animal rooms, he said, "I feel as if I were on another
planet."
Whenever I transfer onto eanother planetf, I ask to myself,
"What do these monkeys think about every day?
Do they have a mind or a heart?"
Long ago Reme Descartes regarded all the animals except man as the
machines, and in this siense he advanced a theory; "Animals have no
mind." However, if Descartes
was not a great philosopher but an excellent naturalist who satisfactorily
observed animals, he would probably have stated, "Animals also have a
mind," I suppose. This supposition depends on the following monkeys' behavior
usually segn in our animal rooms. That
is, when I stand before the cage, some monkey instantly moves back expressing a
fear at first sight; another monkey watches me for a while and suddenly
withdraws as if he felt a fear; and the other monkey smacks his lips rather
anxiously and keeps on watching me. In
short, each monkey shows different behavior toward the same observer standing
before the cage. As for me who is a
layman in psychology,the fact that there exists the difference of speed and mode
in the behavioral reactions of monkeys to the same observer can be regarded as
suggesting that monkeys are recognizing,, thinking and judging something in the
brain proper. I will show you
another example. When an animal
care-taker comes into an animal room at the fixed time for giving diets, all the
monkeys in the room jabber habitually. This
is probably because they feel hungry and are expecting the feed.
I guess, in the brain proper in these cases some factor of thinking is
functioning in a manner similar to the linguistic process in the human brain by
which we human beings feel and consider something; that is, 'mind' is working in
monkeys. (Perhaps some scientists rigidly advocating behaviorism
will criticize my view.)
On the other hand, mankey's 'mind' seems to be much simpler and more
straightforward than that of man. It
may sound strange, but I would rather like to evaluate monkey's mind as
'honest'. Probably monkeys
may not take any refracted process in their way of thinking.
They will be unable to place themselves in another's place, and they will
not be conscious of their own death even if they meet with their mate's death,
Furthermore, can they recognize 'themselves'?
They never show a thankful beart. Anyway,
I dare say the step of phylogeny of human mind is the best of all the animals.
Giving many thanks to monkeys for their contribution to humanbeings, I
have mentioned about what I always think of on 'another planet'.
Page-4
Breeding Topics: Two twin births of the cynomolgus monkey and their
growth
It is not rare for Callithricidae of Platyrrhini to give
birth to not only twins but also triplets or quadruplets.
However, birth of twin babies is very rare for Catarrhini.
At TPC we 1&d two birth-cases of twin babies.
The first case happened on May 12, 1982.
While doing the routine observation in the morning,an animal technician
found copious blood of delivery-bleeding on the floor of the cage in which a
mother monkey was holding two newborn babies in her arms.
This case was our first experience of obtaining twin babies after we had
bred more than one thousand monkeys. The
second case occurred after one year from the first twin-birth, on May 19, 1983.
The second twin babies
were born by Caesarean operation.
I regret to say that we could not foresee the first case as twinm before
their birth. The both babies were
female,weighing 236g and 280g at birth, respectively.
Their mother was imported from Malaysia inFebruary, 1979, became pregnant
in September and gave birth to a baby in March, 1980. The second delivery was in March, 1981, and the third was the
twin case. In this case, the
gestation length was 158 days.
These three pregnancies
resulted from mating with the same male by the TPC5 routine mating system.
In each pregnancy she conceived as a result of the first mating of three
days in her optional mating time. That
is, she efficiently became pregnant three times cbnsecutively during the past
three years. Her first child
weighed 762g in sixteen weeks after birth, the second 739g in nineteeen weeks,
and each of them was weaned at that time. However,
her third and fourth babies, the twins, showed marked weight loss at the regular
measurement in a week after birth. Then,
one of them was adopted to another mother monkey.
On November 16, 1982, they were weaned from their mothers when they were
twenty-seven weeks old. Then
they lived together in the same cage. One
of them, which weighed less than the other at birth and was nursed by his own
mother, weighed 844g at the time of weaning.
And the other weighed 720g. In
September, 1983, they became one year and four months old and weighed 1.60kg and
1.41kg, respective1y. As
regards human A--8---0 blood group system, they were judged to be type B and
type A, respectively. Thus we
conclude they are fraternal twins.
In the second twin case, the delivery was the third one for the mother
monkey. She is a colony-bred F2 animal and six years and
nine months ol'd now. In the first
delivery, she had a female bably when she was five years and eight months old,
and at fifteen weeks of age she weaned him having the weight of 776g on August
3, 1982. As for the third
delivery,her pregnancy became obvious five weeks after mating on January 13,
1983. Then she underwent a regular
physical exam:L- nation every four weeks like other pregnant monkeys do.
On May 6, we detected twin fetuses in her uterus for the first time by
the palpa- tion of the presentation. The
twin fetuseswere ascertained by the soft X-rays, too, The fetuses showed pelvic
and cephalic presentation, respectively. As
we were afraid of a complicatul birth or a stillbirth, we performed a Caesarean
operation on the mother monkey at the fetal age of 169 days on May 19, 1983,
Newborn twins were well developed but weighed only 259g and 138g, respectively.
They were the lightest of all the babies which we had dealt with at TPC.
'The smaller one was nearly in a state of apparent death and had to
undergo a massage to be awaken from asphyxiation.
Because these newborn babies were markedly different from each other in
the body size, we judged that nursing of twins by the real mother monkey would
be difficult. Thus, the smaller
baby was adopted to another mother monkey who had a stillbirth just on that day.
As of October 6 in 1983, the bigger baby weighed 716g, and the other
weighed 522g in twenty weeks after birth. Their
body-weigh't growth curves are parallel with each other.
Though their A-B-0 blood types are type A, I suppose they are fraternal
twins judging from the observation on the amnion, the placenta and the umbilical
cord at the Caesarean operation.
Page-5
Introduction of the Facilities: Wireless microphones at TPC
When we work with monkeys in our animal facilities, we use a portable
wireless apparatus as shown in the phowtograph.
On such apparatus we use the FM wave of the band of 150 MHz.
The central wireless station receives three kinds of waves of different
frequency (A,B,C) of transmitting waves from each sender, unifies them as the
fourth wave (D) and transmits D wave to every receiver who carries an earphone
to receive D wave. Every animal
room and corridor is fitted with an antenna of about sixty centimeters long, and
all the workers can transmit and receive messages by themselves wherever they
are in animal facilities. As a
microphone and an earphone are equipped at the top of a protective hood worn by
a worker, he can use hands freely for the work.
We have five buildings for keeping monkeys and more than forty animal
rooms, large and small. These
buildings are separated from each other as well as from the outside world with
barriers, and different rooms of the same building are separated from each other
with barriers, too. The wireless
apparatus is one of the most necessary equipments for the rational care and
management of three thousand man- keys at a maximum level (two thousand two
hundred monkeys as of October, 1983) by twelve animal technechians, fifteen
animal attendants and a veterinarian. A
few examples of efficient use of it are as follows:
1.
Communication and instruction between the worker in the animal room,and
the staff in the record room. (This
room is situated out of the animal feeding builgings and keeps individual record
files and the terminal of the computar.) For
example, several reports and questions on urgent treatments for the monkeys with
some trouble are transmitted to the veterinarian in the record room during the
external observation of animals which is done by animal technicians every
morning to check health conditions of all the monkeys.
Then the veterinarian checks individual record files and instructs the
observer on the treatments and decides where to go to consult the monkey on the
question.
2.
Mutual communication among all the workers at work.
3.
Request for supply of the shortage of stationery medicines and parts of
feeding equipment in the animal facility.
4.
Instruction or request forhelp at the werrk such as mating, separation of
a female after mating, postnatal treatment, physical inspection under restraint,
weanig, medical treatment, collection of test-materials, etc., for which two or
three workers have to cooperate, I might say that we cannot do with the huge
amount of work of feeding a lot of monkeys without these wireless apparatuses.
All the animal technicians at TPC put un this apparatus on the face-hood;
a microphone before the mouth, an earphone about the ear, and start their work.
They can always listen to information from other workers and answer to
the question if necessary. All
the workers can listen to all informations and questions, and, as a result, the
judgement 6n the similar observation and the treatment for some same kinds of
trouble will be done uniiormly by them. These
apparatuses are helpful in making each worker' s work safer and more accurate
and doing group work eff-iciently and rapidly.
In addition to the wireless apparatuses for the routine work, we use two
sets of other portable ones. On
these sets we utilize different wave-frequencies from those for the daily work. These are used mainly when an inspector informs the recorder
about the results of his inspection at the reception and quarantine work for
newly arrived monkeys or at the regular physical examination of monkeys, at
which he has to use his both hands.
Page-6
On the Technique of Care and Management of Cynomolgus Monkeys
-
The method of identification -
We use the number of ten figures for the identification of otw monkeys.
The first figure from the
left shows the species of the monkey; 1: Macaca fascicularis,
2: Macaca mulatta,
3: Cercopithecus aethiops, 4: Saimiri sciurea.
The second figure shows the filial generation; 0: wild originated, 1: F1,
2 : F2 . The third shows the
sexuality; 1 : female, 2: male.
The fourth and fifth show the year; 82: 1982.
If the mankey is wild originated, it shows the year of arrival at TPC.
If he was born at TPC, it shows the year of birth. The six and the seventh figures indicate the month of
importation or birth. The last
three figures show the consecutive number of each generation -in each year, For
instance, 1128210266 means the monkey is Macaca fascicularis,
male, born in October, 1982, and the 266th baby in Fl in 1982.
When a baby mon'&ey is weaned, we tatoo three dots on his face,
indicating the last three figures. At
about one year of age, we tatoo his number on the inside of his thigh,
indicating the filia'l generation, the year and the consecutive number of the
generation in the year.
Page-7
Special Article -Monkeys are greatly expected to be useful for the study
of ATLV ( Adult T-cell Leukemia Virus )
The Start of My Study on ATLV in Monkeys : I was not going to
devote myself into the study of ATLV in monkeys only a year ago.
In spring last year, I had a chance to have a knowledge about ATLV at a
symposium held by the special study group on cancers .
About a year had passed until the time of the symposium since the virus
was found out, When I heard about the process of finding the virus , I was
deeply impressed q with having learned that both necessity and contingency
coexisted in the course of the great work.
At that tim I could not even imagine that this virus would also be found
in animals, and I would speak just about the ATLV in mank-eys at the hext
symposium. Necessity and
contingency coexisted when I started this work, too.
When I began to study ATLV, it had been reported that lymphocytes of
Japanese monkeys could become tumors as a result of the infection with human
ATLV, but nobody presupposed that monkeys themselves spontaneously harbored ATLV.
At that time I just started to work for finding out leukemia viruses in
monkeys, obtaining cooperation from TPC. Besides,
I was one of the few scientists using monkeys as laboratory animals for their
research into tumor viruses. After
hesitated for a while, I asked Dr. Hinuma of Kyoto University, who is the
discoverer of ATLV, to let me carry out an infection experiment with
ATLVinmankey.s and a survey for the antibody against ATLV in various animal
species, This is because I intended to fulfill one of Koch's 'three postulates;
the same disease can be caused by the inoculation of isolated bacteria into
animals. In addition, I expected if
I could con-; firm the infection and development of ATL in monkeys, it would be
useful for the establishment of a effective preventive or therapemtit:ic
measures for human 'ATL.
After two weeks since I started the experimental infection, I observed
the appearance and increase of antibody against ATLV as well as the growth of
viruses in leucocytes. I am looking
forward to the development of the disease now.
In man, however, this disease usually develops after forty years of age. Thus, at the present moment, I am not sure how miny years I
have to keep this monkey from now on, waiting for the development of ATL.
I am considering of a treatment to evoke the development, for example,the
use of immuno suppressor.
Natural Infections with ATLV in Monkeys : In order to resolve a
problem that ATL has a vector like mosquitoes and swine which relate to Japanese
enceplalitis virus, I have had an interest in examining blood sera of various
kinds of animals for the presence of ATLV antibody.
I asked some laboratories in the epidemic area of ATL to send me sera of
horses, cows, rats, moles and so on. After
a while, scientists of Kochi Medical College, Tokyo Medical and Dental College
and I have succeeded in the detection of the antibody against ATLV in Japanese
monkeys. Then I examined the blood
serum collection of Japanese monkeys, which was given me by courtesy of Prof.
Nozawa of Kyoto University. As
a result, we have re-' solved that ATLV-antibody positive Japanese monkeys are
detected not only in Kyushu where ATL is endemic among human populations but
also in almost all the regions of Japan incluing regions where no human ATL
patient is detected. Moreover, we
could find that the antibody positive rate in- ' creased with the increase of
the age in Japanese monkeys just like in man.
When the antibody of ATLV was, for the first time, found in Japanese
monkeys, a hazard that ATLV might transmit to man from monkeys was suspected in
the'newspapers, and a kind of panic occurred at some of the facilities keeping
monkeys. However, our data
demonstrated that the distribution of ATLV antibody positive Japanese monkeys
was entirely different from that of human ATL cases.
Therefore, we considered that ATLV would not transmit to man directly
from monkeys. This consideration
was helpful in suppressing the panic. 'What
about other species of monkeys?' was
the next question. I obtained blood
sera of various species of monkeys from TPC and other facilities and found that
Macaca mulatta and Macaca fascicularis had ATLV antibody at a high rate, Cercopithecus
aethiops aslo had it, but Platyrrhini did not. We are often asked whether or not monkeys contract the same
disease as ATL, and the answer is 'No' so far. We have to isolate the virus from
monkeys and clarify the difference in characteristics between ATL isolated from
monkeys and from man as-well as between ATLV isolated from different species
of.mankeys, we have established a monkey cell line having ATLV.
Thus, the difference will be clarified in six months or so.
As for the prevention of ATL, it is important to make clear the route of
infection of ATL and how to interrupt the route.
Since familial aggregation of ATL case is well recognized in human
society, we presume both vertical and horizontal infections with ATLV may occur
in childhood. So far as our
epidemiological examination of Japahese monkey populations is concerned,
however, we have not recognized familial aggregation yet.
This is probably because, we cannot specify their fathers and we cannot
help mixing data derived from uterine brothers with those from true brothers for
our statistical survey. Fortunately,
at TPC, fathers and mothers of monkeys are definite because of the individual
timed-mating system of TPC. This
situation of TPC will facilitate the analysis of possible vertical transmission
of ATLV. In addition, accurate
records are maintained there concerning history of monkeysf feeding conditions,
for example, an experience of being kept in the same cage or not.
Therefore, we can expect much from TPC, regarding the data of horizontal
infection of ATLV, too. Furthermore,
we conducted the Caesarean operation on pregnant monkeys and tried to isolate
the ATLV from the cord blood at TPC, and we could demonstrate the vertical
infection in two pregnant monkeys out of five, But this fact does not
necessarily deny the significance of horizontal infection with ATLV.
The infection caused by the blood transfusion is also an important
problem at issue regarding the infection route of ATLV.
They say the blood transfusion from an antibody positive person caused
the infection of ATL in Kyushu, By using monkeys, we shall be able to
investigate the predisposing conditions necessary for the infection of
ATLV.through the blood transfusion. The
study of ATLV is just a hot,,?pic in the research field of "cancer and
virus". Now, I suppose,,reading this paper, you can realize that
monkeys are greatly expected to contribute themselves to the study of ATLV.
An AIDS Agitation and
ATLV: In the course of this
sthdy, I was caught up into AIDS agitation by chance.
When we started research into the mechanism of the development of ATL in
the infection experiment using monkeys, we naturally had to take the immunity
into account. We are going to examine the immunological competence of
infected monkeys and to suppress immunity to cause ATL.
This is because I supposed that ATLV was similar to the leukemia viruses
of chickens and cats which can produce immunosuppressive states after the
infection. Although the
relationship between ATLV and AIDS has not been ascertained as yet, I am trying
to find the monkey showing AIDS with which ATLV may have something to do.
As I have mentioned above, the patients of ATL,whose therapy has not been
established so far, and their families will very much expect the usefulness and
contribution of laboratory primates.
Page-9 A Case Report -
Congenital Polycystic Kidney of a Cynomolgus Monkey
In the kidney of man and animals, cystomas may so metimes develop on
account of various causes, It has been reported that Cystic renal diseases occur
at the rate from 5 to 10% of a total incidence of renal diseases in man.
Especially, about 30% of fetuses suffering from congenital polycystic
kidney are stillborn. Therefore, I
think congenital polycystic kidney is an important and interesting disease to
research for. An anomalous
development of the kidney is supposed to be the basis of this disease.
In cynomolgus monkeys we have sometimes
observed solitary cysts at autopsy, but no congenital polycystic kidney
has been reported so far.
A
Case of Disease:
A stillborn male, about 146 days of fetal age, weighing 304g.
By
the ultrasonic diagnosis, we had ascertained that he had been alive five days
before his stillbirth.
Autopsy
and Histological Findings :
The skin was edematous and his face was abnormally globular.
Both kidneys swelled and occupied half- of the abdominal cavity, being
about eight times as big as the normal one .
On the cut surface of the kidney, lots of cysts, the size of which was
as-' large as from a needle head to a hempseed, were seen from the cortex to the
medulla. Thus the kidney looked
like a sjwnge. Cysts were globular
or oval. Inside the cysts,
water-like transparent liquid gathered.
Flat or cubic endothelial cells could be observed at the inner surface of
the cysts. The glomerulus did not
show any remarkable change, but a part of the Bowman capsules was markedly
expanded. At the expanded part of
the Bowman capsules, the glomerulus had become atrophied.
Therefore, I suppose this case probably corresponds to the Type I
in0sathanondh and Poter's classification of human polycystic kidney (1964).
Many investigators are conducting studies on experimental polycystic
kidney by the administration of a certain chemical compound on rats and other
animals to elucidate the pathological aspects of this disease. And we are looking forward to the production of laboratory
animals in which such disease entity can develop spontaneously.
Furthermore, an epidemio- logical study on human cases of this disease is
being carried out, and it is considered that the development may be concerned
with genetic factors. Taking advantage of the present discovery of polycystic
kidney in a cynomolgus newborn, I want to conclude that it will be neceisary
that we should forward the genetic study and try to find a cynomolgus monkey
family which easily develbp polycystic kidney.
Page
10 A Comment on Our Research - The Transfer of Maternal Antibody in the Fetus
and Newborn in Cynomolgus Monkeys
Burnet (1968) stated: Tn all mamalian and avian species, newborn animals
receive antibodies from the mothers and the mechanism of transfer and the type
of antibody transferred vary among andmal species. The transferred antibody is said to protect infants from
various infections during the early postnatal period.
Human immunoglobulins are transferred across the haemo-chorial placenta
from mother to her fetus, and this transfer is restricted to IgG class alone.
In nonhuman primates, morphological similarity of their placenta to himan
placenta has been demonstrated in some monkey species.
However, functional analysis of the placenta of monkey was scarcely
performed. This note makes a
comment upon the antibody transfer from the mother to her fetus and newborn
mainly on the basis of our own experiments dealing with colcffiy-bred cynomolgus
monkeys.
The serum IgG level of newborn cynomolgus monkeys Oifl the day of birth
was nearly equal to the adult level, and that it decreased during the first
three months after birth, while IgG and IgM levels of newborns were very low at
birth. Anti-measles antibody,an
example of transplacentally transferred IgG of maternal origin, decreased
linearly with a half-life of 3.4}to.4
weeks after birth regardless of the titer at birth (Figure 1) .
Thus, IgG may be considered to be the only immunoglobulin class that is
transferable through the placenta from mother to the fetus in the cynomolgus
monkey.
The placental transfer of maternal IgG had started by eighty-four days of
fetal age increasing with the fetal age and nearly the same level as the
maternal one was attained by the time of birth (Figure 2) .
However, the IgG level of newborns never exceeded those of their monthers.
These results were also confirmed by the specific antibody levels against
measles viarus and streptolysin 0.
Amniotic fluid collected throughout all gestation period contained
very little IgG. Therefore, the transport of maternal IgG to the fetus by
amniotic fluid may be hardly done in the cynomolgus monkey.
A significant amount of secretory IgA, a very small amount of IgM and
little IgG were detected in the
milk collected just after parturition. Ig
of any class was no longer found in the milk collected one to sixweeks after
parturition. Therefore, the
mother's milk contributes very little, if any, to the increase in the serum Ig
level in the infant cynomolgus monkey.
The decrease in the IgG level after birth was more remarkable in the
infant monkeys born with low IgG levels (Figure 3).
The IgG level prominently increased for the first three weeks after birth
in the infants born with low IgG levels, while the increase was not so prominent
in those born with high IgG levels. These
results suggest that initial level of transplacentally transferred IgG must be
one of the important factors influencing the subsequent devel-opment of infant
monkeys 'own immunoglobulin synthesis .
The mode of transfer of immunoglobulin from the mother to the fetus and
newborn in the cynomolgus monkey was very similar to that of human.
Further immunological characterization of the cynomolgus monkey is fairly
helpful in use of this animal species as a model for the study of perinatal
immunology.
Page
13 A Report from the Front of Animal Feeding - The Scene of Reception Works for
Newly-imported Monkeys
One of the most significant works at TPC is the quarantine work following
the reception of newly-imported wild monkeys. Wild-originated monkeys are
naturally infected so often with various pathogens, some of which cause
important infect-ious diseases common to man and animals as well is serious
infections damaging nonhuman primates as laboratory animals.
Therefore, the quarantine work to expose and exclude the disease is very
imortant at the first step for establishing the monkeys as laboratory animals.
Anyhow, we can say the receiving procedures for newly-arrived monkeys are
the point of contact between the monkey-habitat and TPC monkey-colony.
In such procedures , some different works must intensively be done at the
same time in order to check quickly the health conditions of newly-arrived
monkeys. For this reason, the
reception and quarantine are the worthiest and large-scale works at TPC.
Today we will show you the outline of this work with illustrations.
Reception work is divided into six parts as follows : 1 . capturing,
under anesthesia and weighing, 2. collecting fecal samples, physical
examinations and recording, 3z. the tuberculine test and medications ,
4.blood-taking, 5. dipping and nutrient transfusion, 6. conveying to and keeping
in cages set at the quarantine rooms.
Now, we will send you an on-the-scene report on every man 's activities
relating to the reception work with fifty monkeys newly-imported from the
Philippines on October 12 in 1983.
The work starts at 9:30 in the morning.
Monkeys are in the wooden boxes for tranceportingfrom the hsabitat
country,having arrived at the entranceof the building for quarantine after one
and half hours' trip from Narita International Airport.
[Part 1] The workers in charge of capturing and anestheiizing come on the
stage. Monkey cages are put on the
observation table in the capturing room in numeral order one after another, and
monkeys are captured and anesthesized with intramuscular injection of Ketalar by
the two 6-et- eran workers. Then
monkeys fall asleep in 'the dreamy world.'
Five minutes later, the workers measure the weight of the sleeping
monkeys, and they are sent to the reception room.
[Part 2] In the reception room, a worker in charge of physical
examination and another person to collect fecal samples are waiting for the
monkeys. In the physical
examination, each monkey is carefully checked for the sexuality, the nutritional
condition, the age, the stool property, the condition of the oral cavity, the
presence of external wounds and so on. The
results of the examination are being sent by wireless to the person in the
record room next to but isolated from the reception room.
After a while, the worker in charge of collecting fecal samples is
carrying out his own duty.
[Part 3] Now, monkeys are sent to the worker having an injection syringe.
Every monkey is intradermally tuberculin-injected on theieft upper eyelid
and will be checked for the tuberculin response two days later.
If necessary, some monkeys are given antibiotics here.
[Part 4] Being still asleep in the basket, monkeys are then moved onto
the next table where blood is withdrawn by the femoral vein puncture.
The collected blood will be used for hematological, biochemical and
virological tests, and aliquot samples are stocked also in the serum bank.
Whether the reception work takes time or not depends on the skill of the
personnels doing capture, anesthesia and blood-taking.
[Part 5] About fifteen or twenty minutes have pass-ex1 since the
application of anesthetic, and blood-taking has just finished.
Personnels in charge of dipping and nutrient transfusion are waiBting for
the monkeys to make their dreamy state dreamier.
This must be "the first bath" for monkeys.
The temperature of the warm water is about 40' c and a small amount of
iodine disinfectant is added in it. Imagine
that monkeys are feeling as if they were in "the heaven"!
In addition, they are subcutaneously administered with glucose and amino
acids solution warmed to the skin warmth. Those monkeys who have lice can take a
special lukewarm bath of neguvon solution.
After bathing, they are dried with towels and sent to the animal room in
the quarantine building by the push-car.
[Part 6] Then, they are kept in individual cages.
About
fifteen or twenty minutes later, they will awake and find themselves at a
strange place. They will start and
enjoy new and rich life greatly different from their former life with an
exclusively assigned excellent veterinarian, having two meals a day and taking a
nap in well air-conditioned environment.
As I have mentioned above, the reception work must-be done in the
conveyer system under the cooperation of all the workers.
Therefore, it is one of the good models that shows the fine team-work of
TPC.
Lastly,
I hope all newly-arrived monkeys will finish the quarantine period safely and
contribute themselves to the development of medical science as good laboratory
animals for the health and welfare of human- beings.
Page-16
Japan-U.S. Joint Symposium on gLaboratory
Primates and Viruses
A symposium on "Laboratory Primates and Viruses' was held in Tokyo
by the Laboratory Primates Group of Japan-U.S. Science and T&chnology
Research Project on November 8 in 1983. It
was planned taking advantage of the v:is:it to Japan of Dr. S.S .Kalter, the
foremost researcher of simian viruses . 'Since
this symposium was the first case to exchange- reports and views on research
between Japanese and American scientists ., under the project, the fruitful
result had been greatly anticipated .
On that day thirty-seven researchers gathered from the Primate Research
Institute of Kyoto University, the University of Tokyo , the University of
0saka, the University of Tsukuba, the National Institute of Health, etc.
They discussed on the recent data on viruses in monkeys .
Titles and the names of speakers were as follows :
1
. ' The usefulness of nonhuman primates in virus-related cancer research with
special references to its outline in the U.S. '
by Dr. S. S .Kalter (Southwest Foundation for Research and Education,
Texas , U. S. A. )
2.
'Adult T-cell leukemia in nonhuman primates '
by Dr. M. Hayami (The University of Tokyo)
3.
'
Experiences of the establishment of breeding colony of nonhuman primates free
from some viral contaminants ' by
Dr. W. Sasagawa (TPC)
After the symposium, we exchanged our opinions on the subject 'The
present situation of laboratory monkeys in Japan and the ideal way of Japan-U.S.
cooperative research program from now on, - and a lot of productive suggestions
were offered. Particularly, several
researchers expressed their opinions hoping to have chances to meet together
regularly, and we wish that research exchange would be done more frequently in
Japan as well as between Japan and the U.S .A. with this sumposium as a
turning-point.
Page
17 Homeland of the Cynomolgus Monkey - The Compound of Cynomolgus
Monkeys in Mindanao, the Philippines
Most of the wild cynomolgus monkeys used as laboratory animals are from
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Lately
I visited the Philippines , and surveyed the compounds in Zamboanga of Mindanao
which is the main habitat of cynomolgus monkeys in that country.
In late September, 1983% we visited two compounds in Sindangan, one in
Liloy, Ipil and Zamboanga City each, namely five compounds in all .
Generally, every middleman' s compound kept monkeys in the cages set in
the huts thatched with Nipa palm or sheet-zinc. These huts were behind the middlemen' s own houses.
They had two kinds of cages; one is large and wire-meshed.
Some of them were segregated into two or three compartments , and from
twenty to thirty monkeys were kept in a compartment.
Some floors werd concreted, and others were not.
In the latter case, cages had high floors , and feces were falling onto
the ground through the wire-net bottom. The
other kind of cage was made of bamboo. Cages
of this type were lined up on the bamboo stands built on the ground, and two or
three monkeys were kept in a cage. These
cages were also used for transportation, keeping six or seven monkeys in one
cage. As for the feed, most
middlemen gave only bananas to monkeys. Some
middlemen gave their monkeys water using empty cans, and others gave no water.
Sanitary environment was not so good.
In particular, I found several
points in the bamboo cages. For
instance, to observe monkeys in the cage and to clean and wash soiled cages were
not easy, and the height of the cage was too low.
We collected feces and blood of eighty monkeys in Sindangan and Ipil and
found only few monkeys with diarrhoea and nasal discharge. As it was a rainy season in Mindanao, however, some monkeys'
nutritional conditions were very bad. From Mindanao to Manila, monkeys are
usually sent by sea. For example,
it takes about forty hours from the port in Zamboanga to Mr. Viri's compound.
During the transportation, a man with bananas attends -) on monkeys to
feed them.
On the third day of our trip, we visited the compound of Simian
Conservation Breeding and Research Center, Inc, (SICONBREC), which is one of the
excellent exporting companies of cynomolgus monkeys for laboratory use.
Mr. Hobbs, the Manager of this company, guided us.
This compound was established near the beach in the suburbs of Zamboanga
City in May in 1983. The facility
of SICONBREC consisted of Nipa palm-roofed hut for rearing monkeys that is
enclosed with bamboo, a storehouse keeping cages for transportation, a workshop
and a lodging-house for the animal technicians.
The hut for rearing monkeys was divided into two rooms, big and small.
In the big room, big wire-mesh cages were set on both sides of the
passage. The cage on the right was
divided into four parts, and the other on the left was divided into two.
It seemed to me that they'could keep one-hundred and fifty monkeys in
all. In the small room, a feed
storage, middle-sized wire-mesh cages, and wire-mesh or sheet-zinc-made
individual cages were set. I
supposed that they could keep fifty man- keys in this room, The middle-sized
cages had high floors, and feces were falling on to the inclined concrete floor
through the wire-mesh battoms. In
the individual cages they were keeping diseased monkeys, and the dropping pans
were made of sheet-zinc. They used
sea-water for cleaning the cages, and Mr. Hobbs said proudly, gSea
water serves as a kind of disinfectant, too.h
They fed corns, uncooked rice, bananas and water in big and deep dishes.
Since this company aims to supply not only well quarantined monkeys but
also captive-bred ones, they have a unique health management system.
That is, in Zamboanga, (1) they procure monkeys of good quality from
middlemen and transport them quickly to the facility, (2) and give them
injections of vaccines against measles and some preventive medicines against
bacillary dysentiry and salmonellosis at once.
(3) After two or three'weeks' health care, they send monkeys to the
quarantine building in Manila by air. (4)
They keep the monkeys individually in cages, and administer tuberculin,
anthelmintics and preventive medicine against bac- illary dysentery and
salmonellosis. (5) After about five
weeks' health care, they export monkeys. For
the transportation of monkeys from Minda- nao to Manila by air, they use the
same kind of cage as the one they use for export from Manila to foreign
countries. When we visited there,
twenty monkeys were being kept by this system and they were in good health.
Fifteen young monkeys were also being raised.
As for the price of a monkey exported to Japan, for example, a monkey
quarantined for four weeks costs three times as much as a non-quarantined
monkey.
At any rate, under such a circumstance thatnatural resources of monkeys
are declining, it is favorable for us, scientists working with monkeys, that
monkeys well-quarantined and conditioned before exportation can be supplied as
laboratory animals.
Page
19 A Memory of a Trainee - My Experience of Sojourn at TPC for Studying
Behavior of Cynomolgus Monkeys
This summer I stayed at TPC for two weeks to study behavior concerned
With the ralationship between a mother monkey and her bab). I was very surprised ind impressed with the large scale of
TPC, the perfect system of animal care and management carried out at TPC, the
thoughtful consideration to maintain sanitary environment for animal facility,
the abundance of monkeys, the wide latitude in research because of the
abundance, the excellent staffs, etc.
I have been studying the relationship between mothers and their babies as
well as the ontogenetic development of baby monkey's behavior, especially
Japanese mankey's baby behavior, and used to adopt a longitudinal method of
study, the follow-up observation with a rather limited number of samples, It is
clear that to perform a follow-up survey with specific objects for a long time
and to see the whole developing phenomena are the bases of the study of
behavioral development. However, when we deal with limited samples of primates
showing a large difference iron1 each other, we should always be careful not to
draw a wrong conclusion. In this regard, now I think that to observe
transversely a lot of objects concerning some conditions is one of the promising
measures to avoid the danger of making the mistake mentioned above.
Besides, I have learned that there is a limit in my own method of
guessing the mutual influence from the observation of some natural relationships
between a mother monkey and her baby. That
is to say, I have been thinking of experimental manipulation of the ties of
mother monkey and her child. Furthermore,
I have considered of some factors partici- pat:hq or predisposing the
mother-infant relationship. When we
longitudinally analyse behavioral development, we necessarily repeat
observations on the same individual for checking the changes of infant behavior.
This may give rise to a difficult problem regarding how-to distinguish
the results obtained through the process of individual development from those
caused in the process of experimental repetition. In other words, we cannot tell whether occurring change is a
product of development or a result of the repetition of the experiment.
Therefore, I reached the conclusion that we should try the same procedure
only once on many individuals of different ages, and discuss the developmental
change on the basis of the difference of the results with respect to the
difference of age. In this sense, I
also came to seek for a transverse study. I
thought no otherinstitute but TPC would be able to satisfy my several
requirements and to give me a chance to make a special study in primates, and I
applied for the research at TPC.
The items of my research for two weeks at TPC were as follows:
1.
Regular observation of all the wild-originated mother monkeys and their
children.
2.
Analysis of mother mankey's milk collected on different postpartum day.
3.
The relationship between the mother monkey and her child and the analysis
of milk of mother monkeys who were fed on a restricted diet.
4.
Experiment
of exchanging mothers and children of different ages.
5.
Experiment of meeting pregnant females with juvenile monkeys.
In addition to them, I had precious experiences.
I will report on them on another opportunity. I hope I also would be able to visit and stay at TPC again to
perform transverse studies in the future.
Page
20 A Monologue as a Driver of the Specially-deviced Truck for Transportinrg
Monkeys
For the transportation of usual goods, we need not prepare so special
equipment. However, to transport
colony-bred monkeys safely and quickly, we need considerable equipment in its
own way.
At TPC, we have a specially-deviced truck for transporting monkeys, a
air-conditioned'car. We can carry
forty-eight monkeys in it. Inside
the car, the air is automatically controlled to be around 25'c just like the
animal rooms at TPC, and we have another extra air-conditioner in case of
emergency. The air can be changed
ten times per hour and highly efficient filters are attached to the ventilator
to make the air clean. The central
operation apparatus is set on, the dashboard by the driver's seat so that he can
handle it while driving.
When I drive this specially-deviced truck from TPC to the Murayama Annex
of the National Institute of Health in Tokyo, I always have something to worry
about. For example, I worry about
the serious delay in arriving at the Annex because of the traffic jam.
As I usually infom the Annex office of the arrival time before I leave
TPC, the delay will upset the plan of the reception work, and personnels waiting
for the arrival will have trouble, too. Above
all, monkeys will be tired because of the long trip.
Another example of my cares is the trouble with the air-conditioner.
Since it is always unavoidable that machines accompany some troubles, we
have to follow the regular course. Because
we transport monkeys raised with great care by many technicians and scientists,
I cannot help worrying about the conditions of them during transportation.
At the same time, while thinking how the monkeys feel in the air-
conditioned car, I sometimes become depressed.
They are destined to be used as the substitute for human-beings for the
development of medical sciences. It
is their duty as laboratory animals. But...
Various emotions are mixed in my heart.
When we arrive at the destination and open the doors of the truck,
however, monkeys jabber innocently. Then
my mixed emotions disappear, and I feel relieved.
Page
21 Sketches from Animal Rooms - I
am a Teacher of the Monkey-class.
To take care of young cynomolgus monkeys at the age from six
months to one year and a half in the rearing building is my duty.
They are, so to speak, 'pupils of elementary school, and I am a teacher.
Now, I will introduce you the elementary school of cynomolgus monkeys.
Monkeys-are born in the breeding building and fed on their mother's milk.
When their teeth grow enough to eat the feed by themselves, they enter
the kindergarten of four rooms in the rearing building.
The number of the pupils in one class is limited to only two, and this is
the first chance to meet some other monkeys except for their own mother.
They will lead their lives with this partner from this time on, After
they spend three months in the kindergarten, they go on to the elementary school
and form one class with six peer mates. Then
I become their homeroom teacher, and put a number plate on their cage to
identify them. For the first two or
three days they only embrace their close friend from their kindergarten days and
do not play with others. In a week,
however, they begin to jump over each other, run on the floor of cage, climb on
the mesh wall of cage and becomE! fairly active.
At this time, some monkey shows the desire to be the king of his cage
mates, and they begin quarreling. Mostly,
a big monkey torments, bites, scratches a small one and makes him injured on the
forehead, arm or other body surfaces. When
I find an injured child, I inform it to a veterinarian and ask him to come and
see him. If his injury is serious,
he will be sent -to a hospital. (In
other words, he will be kipt in another cage.)
The other day, soon after a ne was formed, I found a young mankey's face
swollen like a ball. The
veterinarian said his injury would take two weeks 6 heal completely. Though
I make an effort to decide who is the king of the class, they pretend to be good
pupils before the teacher and make me confused.
To take a recovered monkey back to the class is also teacher's duty.
Some monkey is tormented by the king and goes back to the hospital again.
By and by the king becomes bigger and bigger, while the weak monkey
becomes too coward to go back to his class, being left behind.
For this reason, we are now considering the way to avoid the injury and
not to leave weak monkeys behind. For
example, (1) to make them live together only in the daytime and continue to
observe them till they become familiar with each other.
(2) To put some toys in the cage to let monkeys have interest in the
toys. (3) To organize a new class
for only coward monkeys. (4) To
entirely change the schooling system. Namely,
to put six monkeys in a cage from the kindergarten days and let them go on to
the elementary school with the same members, and so forth.
1f you have some other good ideas, please let us know.
Page
22 Sketches from Animal Rooms - I Have Learned Weaning an Infant from the Mother
Monkey is Very Bitter and Hard.
Today I weaned eight cynomolgus babies from their mothers, speaking to
each of them, "Live on your own and be a strong monkey."
At TPC we wean infant monkeys when they are at the-age of more than
ninety days, their weight is double to the birth weight (700g on average), and
they have the first deciduous molar and eat the food by themselves. The bitterest and hardest work for me in a week schedule is
weaning.
Though they speak nothing, mother monkeys look as if they are crying
"Bring back my baby! I would
like to live with him longer!" If
it is permitted, I will let them live together till a baby monkey becomes
completely independent and tough to live alone.
Actually, however, they are d&stined to carry out their mission as
laboratory animals. When I am
informed that those weaned monkeys are growing well in the cage for group
rearing, I really feel relaxed.
Meanwhile, though I carefully list up the monkeys suitable for weaning
and perform the work, some of them lose their appetite and weight or suffer from
diarrhoea after being weaned. In
spite of the best medical care, they do not regain their health. Their
eyes sink, and the lie of hair becomes bad and coarse.
At last, we send them back to their mothers to let them nurse again.
All after mother's nursing is the best for treatment of children.
Perhaps some of you would say, "Then, you should take weak monkeys
back to their mothers earlier." However,
at the second weaning we have to perform our work more carefully than the'first.
To cope with these difficulties, we will have to consider the way of
weaning over again and have an insight into character of each monkey.