# Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource

> **NIH NIH P40** · WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $357,678

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
This application is submitted in response to NOT-AG-20-008 Alzheimer's-focused administrative supplements
as a supplement to P40-OD010965 the Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource (VRC). The VRC is
a national biomedical research resource mandated to provide the research community with access to
pedigreed, genomically-sequenced, pathogen-free Caribbean-origin vervets/African green monkeys
(Chlorocebus aethiops sabaeus). Vervets are increasingly recognized as a valuable NHP model for
Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Vervets have age-related brain changes similar to humans including increases in Aβ
plaque burden, cognitive and motor deficits, and changes in CSF AD biomarkers and changes with age in
cortical transcription profiles. Also like humans, greater plaque and paired helical filament tau (phf-tau) burden
are associated with reductions in brain volumes and cerebral glucose utilization. Like humans, some vervets
develop insulin resistance with age that may progress to type 2 diabetes accompanied by decreased CSF
Aβ42/Aβ40. Age-related sleep, and sleep–related cognitive function have not been studied in vervets and there
are only two reports in other NHPs. In humans, poor sleep impairs cognitive functioning. While quantity and
quality of sleep decline with age, these decrements are exaggerated in AD. Poor sleep and daytime
somnolence are associated with greater AD neuropathology as indicated by CSF and neuroimaging
biomarkers. Prospective studies suggest that poor sleep increases subsequent risk of AD. However, in mice,
Aβ plaque deteriorates the sleep-wake cycle suggesting that Aβ and sleep may have a bidirectional
relationship. Sleep disturbances are associated with insulin resistance, and increase risk for type 2 diabetes.
Peripheral insulin resistance increases risk for cognitive impairment and AD. However, type 2 diabetics have
poor sleep suggesting these relationships also may be bidirectional. Determination of age-related changes in
sleep, and their relationships with cognitive performance, insulin resistance, and AD risk may lead to new
targets for therapeutic intervention. Our overall goal is to develop the vervet as a model in which to identify
novel targets and evaluate therapies for the detrimental effects of poor sleep on cognitive function, insulin
resistance, and AD-like neuropathology. Our specific aims are to determine, in middle-aged and elder
vervets, age differences in sleep quantity and quality, and whether poor sleep is associated with poor cognitive
function, AD neuroimaging and CSF biomarkers, or insulin resistance, and if age mediates these relationships.
The results of this study will provide a NHP model and pilot data to support subsequent applications to
determine the temporal order of emergence of these disorders in a longitudinal study, whether therapeutic
intervention on sleep improves cognitive and metabolic function, and CSF and neuroimaging biomarkers, and
identify novel therapeutic targets to...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10119382
- **Project number:** 3P40OD010965-16S2
- **Recipient organization:** WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Jorgensen
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $357,678
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2004-07-01 → 2025-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10119382

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10119382, Vervet Research Colony as a Biomedical Resource (3P40OD010965-16S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10119382. Licensed CC0.

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