Sex and species differences of stress markers in sympatric cheetahs and leopards in Namibia

Czirják, Gábor Á.; Melzheimer, Joerg; Menges, Vera; Wachter, Bettina

doi:10.1016/j.cbpa.2018.09.002

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Those external factors obviously do not apply to elephants, so the antioxidant functions of estrogens alone may not have enough of an effect to influence oxidative stress in this species. Lack of sex differences in ROS have also been found in other animal species, such as wild birds [55] and leopards [56], and between gelding and female horses [57]. Although there was no seasonal effect on ROS in the GLM model, there was an interaction between season and age, with ROS concentrations being lower in adult and aged groups during the winter.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Measures of Oxidative Status Markers in Relation to Age, Sex, and Season in Sick and Healthy Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Kosaruk

Brown

Towiboon

et al. 2023

Animals

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Oxidative stress is a pathological condition that can have adverse effects on animal health, although little research has been conducted on wildlife species. In this study, blood was collected from captive Asian elephants for the assessment of five serum oxidative status markers (reactive oxygen species (ROS) concentrations; malondialdehyde, MDA; albumin; glutathione peroxidase, GPx; and catalase) in healthy (n = 137) and sick (n = 20) animals. Health problems consisted of weakness, puncture wounds, gastrointestinal distress, eye and musculoskeletal problems, and elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus hemorrhagic disease (EEHV-HD). Fecal samples were also collected to assess glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) as a measure of stress. All data were analyzed in relation to age, sex, sampling season, and their interactions using generalized linear models, and a correlation matrix was constructed. ROS and serum albumin concentrations exhibited the highest concentrations in aged elephants (>45 years). No sex differences were found for any biomarker. Interactions were observed for age groups and seasons for ROS and catalase, while GPx displayed a significant interaction between sex and season. In pairwise comparisons, significant increases in ROS and catalase were observed in summer, with higher ROS concentrations observed only in the adult female group. Lower catalase activity was exhibited in juvenile males, subadult males, adult females, and aged females compared to subadult and adult elephants (males and females) in winter and the rainy season. There was a positive association between catalase activity and fGCMs (r = 0.23, p < 0.05), and a number of red blood cell parameters were positively associated with several of these biomarkers, suggesting high oxidative and antioxidative activity covary in red cells (p < 0.05). According to health status, elephants with EEHV-HD showed the most significant changes in oxidative stress markers, with MDA, GPx, and catalase being higher and albumin being lower than in healthy elephants. This study provides an analysis of understudied health biomarkers in Asian elephants, which can be used as additional tools for assessing the health condition of this species and suggests age and season may be important factors in data interpretation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Measures of Oxidative Status Markers in Relation to Age, Sex, and Season in Sick and Healthy Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Kosaruk

Brown

Towiboon

et al. 2023

Animals

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“…The poor agreement between BOS observed in our study hampers the opportunity of interchange markers between sample origins when assessing OS in wildlife. Variations between conspecifics in BOS at the species and individual scales (e.g., sex, age) are well-documented in different systems ( 59 – 61 ). However, intraindividual differences in BOS, like those observed in our study, have not received much attention despite their significant importance for an adequate sampling plan.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, Gassó et al ( 35 ) reported a similar difficulty detecting altered OS in wild boar naturally infected with TB, hypothesizing that TB alone was not enough to trigger OS imbalance and that host intrinsic factors may also play an important role in OS levels. In this regard, special attention should be directed to the sex and age of the host as they have a direct influence on the immune and stress response of mammals ( 59 – 61 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tissue-specific assessment of oxidative status: Wild boar as a case study

Aleuy

Gassó²,

Tvarijonaviciute³

et al. 2023

Front. Vet. Sci.

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In recent decades, there has been a fast-growing interest in using biomarkers of oxidative stress (BOS) in conservation programs of many vertebrate species. Biomarkers of oxidative stress can be measured in different biological samples (e.g., body fluids and tissues). However, since comparisons of the same battery of BOS among tissues of the same individual are scarce in the literature, the chosen target tissues regularly rely on arbitrary decisions. Our research aimed to determine if the oxidative status of free-ranging wild boar (Sus scrofa) naturally infected with Mycobacterium spp (etiological agent of tuberculosis, TB), varies depending on the sample where it was quantified. We compared antioxidant p-nitrophenyl esterase activity (EA), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) concentrations, and total oxidative status (TOS) in serum, lung, spleen, kidney, and muscle of 63 wild boar hunter-harvested in central Spain. Biomarkers of oxidative stress in serum had higher concentrations than in other tissues. The poor agreement between serum and other tissues highlights the importance of running complete BOS assessments in the same fluid or tissue. Further, low concentrations of BOS in tissues of TB-affected individuals were observed, and significant differences between healthy and sick boar were only detected in the serum of individuals developing mild TB and in the muscle of individuals with mild or severe disease status. However, all organs from wild boars affected with mild TB were not in oxidative imbalance compared to healthy control animals, suggesting that wild boars may cope well with TB. Our data indicate that serum and other tissues can be used as BOS in field conservation programs to monitor wildlife population health. Still, context-specific validations are needed to determine the most appropriate samples to use.

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“… 20 , 23 , 38 , 39 , 53 – 55 . Additionally, we measured one marker of plasma oxidative damage, one marker of plasma non-enzymatic antioxidant capacity, and plasma levels of two antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, SOD, and glutathione peroxidase, GPx) using standard methods applied to a variety of wildlife species 40 , 56 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life-history stage influences immune investment and oxidative stress in response to environmental heterogeneity in Antarctic fur seals

Nagel,

Pohle,

Jordán

et al. 2024

Commun Biol

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Immune defenses are crucial for survival but costly to develop and maintain. Increased immune investment is therefore hypothesized to trade-off with other life-history traits. Here, we examined innate and adaptive immune responses to environmental heterogeneity in wild Antarctic fur seals. In a fully crossed, repeated measures design, we sampled 100 pups and their mothers from colonies of contrasting density during seasons of contrasting food availability. Biometric and cortisol data as well as blood for the analysis of 13 immune and oxidative status markers were collected at two key life-history stages. We show that immune responses of pups are more responsive than adults to variation in food availability, but not population density, and are modulated by cortisol and condition. Immune investment is associated with different oxidative status markers in pups and mothers. Our results suggest that early life stages show greater sensitivity to extrinsic and intrinsic effectors, and that immunity may be a strong target for natural selection even in low-pathogen environments such as Antarctica.

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Sex and species differences of stress markers in sympatric cheetahs and leopards in Namibia

Cited by 3 publications

References 30 publications

Measures of Oxidative Status Markers in Relation to Age, Sex, and Season in Sick and Healthy Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Measures of Oxidative Status Markers in Relation to Age, Sex, and Season in Sick and Healthy Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Tissue-specific assessment of oxidative status: Wild boar as a case study

Life-history stage influences immune investment and oxidative stress in response to environmental heterogeneity in Antarctic fur seals

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