ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the answer for the question: do repeated colonic mucosal biopsies impact mortality in cotton-top tamarins? In the cotton-top tamarin, Saguinus Oedipus, spontaneous idiopathic colitis occurs relatively early in life and increases in severity and frequency of exacerbations through 3 to 5 years of age. Colonscopies were performed and colonic mucosal biopsies obtained at 3-month intervals for 5 years in a group of 38 cotton-top tamarins. The initial question was whether repeated colonic biopsies, for example, 15 to 20 over a 5-year period, would increase mortality in the cotton-top tamarins so examined. Cotton-top tamarin colitis occurs spontaneously and is debilitating to affected animals. However, any increased mortality associated with colonic biopsies could cause a reevaluation of the risk-benefit aspect of using the procedure experimentally. There was no difference in mortality between tamarins housed in the spacious MARCOR breeder facility in family groups and non-breeders housed in individual caging during the 5-year period.
