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Updated: Oct 8, 2025
Author Spotlight: Evaluating Traditional Chinese Therapy for Ankylosing Spondylitis in Mice
Published on: October 27, 2023
A new and spontaneous animal model for ankylosing spondylitis is found in cynomolgus monkeys
Huanhuan Jia1,2, Meili Chen2, Yanzhen Cai1
1School of Life Science and Biopharmacy, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Bioactive Substances, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, China.
Background:
Ankylosing spondylitis is a progressive, disabling joint disease that affects millions worldwide. Given its unclear etiology, studies of ankylosing spondylitis relied heavily on drug-induced or transgenic rodent models which retain only partial clinical features. There is obviously a lack of a useful disease model to conduct comprehensive mechanistic studies.
Methods:
We followed a group of cynomolgus monkeys having joint lesions reported of spinal stiffness for 2 years by conducting hematological testing, radiographic examination, family aggregation analysis, pathological analysis, and genetic testing.
Results:
The results confirmed that these diseased animals suffered from spontaneous ankylosing spondylitis with clinical features recapitulating human ankylosing spondylitis disease progression, manifested by pathological changes and biochemical indicators similar to that of ankylosing spondylitis patients.
Conclusion:
The study offers a promising non-human primate model for spontaneous ankylosing spondylitis which may serve as an excellent substitute for its pre-clinical research.
