A longitudinal study of hair cortisol concentrations in Macaca nemestrina mothers and infants

Abstract

Cortisol is a well-known glucocorticoid that can be used as a biomarker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity. To explore basal cortisol physiology during pregnancy and infancy in Macaca nemestrina monkeys, hair was collected from a convenience sample of 22 healthy mother-infant dyads. Adult females were housed in pairs as part of a small breeding colony at the Washington National Primate Research Center and infants were reared in a specialized nursery. Maternal samples were collected from females during a pregnancy-detection ultrasound and immediately following labor and delivery. Infant samples were collected at birth, 20 days, 4, 6, 8 and 10 mos. of age. Hair cortisol concentrations (HCCs) were determined using an enzyme immunoassay in washed and ground hair samples. Like human mothers, macaque HCCs rose during pregnancy (paired t=5.8, df=16, p<.001). Maternal HCCs at pregnancy-detection (114.2 ± 12.07 picogram/milligram (pg/mg)) were highly predictive of maternal HCCs at delivery (144.8 ± 13.60 pg/mg), suggesting a trait-like quality (r=0.90, P<.001). When maternal HCCs were viewed on a continuum, the absolute rise in cortisol over the course of pregnancy was significantly related to newborn HCCs (r=0.55, P=.02). Infant birth HCCs (1027.4.3 ± 97.95 pg/mg) were seven times higher than maternal HCCs at delivery (paired t = 19.1, df = 16, P<0.001). Higher birth HCCs were strongly associated with larger decreases in infant hair cortisol until 6 months of postnatal age when infant HCCs converged on values indistinguishable from adults. Overall, study results demonstrate a marked degree of fetal cortisol exposure during the latter part of gestation and suggest that the rise in maternal cortisol over pregnancy may play an influential role on HCCs in the newborn.

Aggression and social support predict long‐term cortisol levels in captive tufted capuchin monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] apella)

“…Samples were processed and analyzed for cortisol levels in the laboratory of Dr. Jerrold Meyer at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The assay method is detailed in Meyer et al, (large sample method) and has previously been used to measure hair cortisol in a number of nonhuman primate species including rhesus and pig‐tailed macaques, olive baboons, capuchin monkeys, and common marmosets (Davenport, Tiefenbacher, Lutz, Novak, & Meyer, ; Dettmer et al, ; Grant et al, ; Meyer et al, ; Phillips et al, ). Samples were weighed and 50 mg of hair for each subject was isolated for analysis (range, 49.3–50.5 mg).…”

Sheep wool cortisol as a retrospective measure of long-term HPA axis activity and its links to body mass

“…Samples were analysed for cortisol concentrations using a commercially available salivary cortisol enzyme immunoassay kit (Salimetrics LLC, State College, PA). The kit has been used to analyse hair cortisol concentrations in sheep [28] and numerous other species including humans [43][44][45][46], non-human primates such as chimpanzees [47], rhesus macaques [48][49][50][51], pig-tailed macaques [52], ring-tailed lemurs [53] and other mammals such as bears [54] brown hares [23], dogs [55], cows [56], angus bulls [57] and pigs [58,59]. Later matched samples from the same individual were run on the same plate in duplicate.…”

Multi-year longitudinal profiles of cortisol and corticosterone recovered from baleen of North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis)

“…Serial plasma samples collected over time from the same individuals (i.e., longitudinal sampling) have been particularly informative for clarifying relationships of GCs with a multitude of potentially important natural and anthropogenic stressors. Longitudinal sampling enables detailed study of cycles in GC secretion, relationships of GCs to long-lasting reproductive states such as pregnancy or lactation, and can help discriminate cases of chronic vs. acute stress events (e.g., Bettendorf et al, 1998;Grant et al, 2016;Koester et al, 2015;Reeder et al, 2004).…”