A non-invasive technique for analyzing fecal cortisol metabolites in snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus)

Sheriff, Michael J.; Bosson, Curtis O.; Krebs, Charles J.; Boonstra, Rudy

doi:10.1007/s00360-008-0314-4

Cited by 56 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…disease or injury) stressors. Further assessment should be made by suppressing endogenous GC concentrations using dexamethasone and examining the plasma and CML response to exposure of koalas to a predator such as a dog (Sheriff et al 2009). This technique could also be extended to evaluate the impact of climate change, which is contributing to population declines, and how environmental stressors may affect the survival and reproductive success of koala populations throughout Australia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The measurement of GC concentrations can reveal how stressors affect the survival and reproductive success of wild animals and how natural environmental challenges (e.g. predators, conspecifics and weather), climate change and habitat disturbance have an impact on wild populations (Boonstra & Singleton 1993, Wasser et al 1997, Creel et al 2002, Thiel et al 2008, Sheriff et al 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, blood sampling can be difficult to carry out under field conditions. More recently, non-invasive methods for measuring GC metabolite concentrations in faeces and hair have become widely accepted tools for gaining important information about an animal's endocrine status (Mostl & Palme 2002, Young et al 2004, Davenport et al 2006, Sheriff et al 2009). The employment of non-invasive techniques to assess the physiological status of wild populations can be advantageous for both practical and ethical reasons (Lane 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of ACTH upon faecal glucocorticoid excretion in the koala

Davies¹,

Gillett²,

McAlpine³

et al. 2013

Journal of Endocrinology

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Environmental changes result in physiological responses of organisms, which can adversely affect population dynamics and reduce resistance to disease. These changes are expressed in chronic levels of stress. The measurement of glucocorticoid (GC) concentrations in faeces is a non-invasive method for monitoring stress in wildlife. The metabolism and excretion of steroids differ significantly between species and, as a consequence, non-invasive methods must be physiologically validated for each species. Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) are declining in numbers through much of their range. The role of chronic stress in koala populations has not been identified. Prior to the assessment of faecal GC concentrations in wild koala populations, the excretion timing and concentrations of GCs need to be determined. In this study, we assessed a method for identifying and measuring the concentrations of GC metabolites in faecal pellets of captive koalas following ACTH treatment. The results show that an elevation of plasma cortisol concentrations, using sustained release of ACTH, results in elevated concentrations of faecal cortisol/cortisol metabolites. Taking into account the excretion time lag, an increase in faecal cortisol metabolite concentrations corresponds to the release of GCs from the adrenal cortex as early as 36 h before faecal pellet collection. The calculations of steroid partitioning of plasma cortisol showed that the ACTH-stimulated values were significantly different from the control values for the concentrations of free, corticosteroid-binding globulin-bound and albumin-bound cortisol. This study validates the use of faecal cortisol analysis to assess the activity of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocortical axis in freshly collected koala faecal pellets and indicates that the method should be suitable to assess the adrenocortical status of koalas in wild populations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of ACTH upon faecal glucocorticoid excretion in the koala

Davies¹,

Gillett²,

McAlpine³

et al. 2013

Journal of Endocrinology

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“…As the two group-specific 11-oxoaetiocholanolone EIAs recognize different groups of metabolites, it is not surprising that their suitability varies across species as hormone metabolism is highly species specific. In European (Lepus europaeus) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) for example, the 11,17-DOA EIA appear to be suitable for monitoring adrenocortical function (Teskey-Gerstl et al 2000;Sheriff et al 2009), whereas, for example, in African elephants (Loxodonta africana) and mountain hares (Lepus timidus) only the 3~,11oxo-CM EIA (Ganswindt et al 2003;Rehnus et al 2009), and in goats both EIAs (Kleinsasser et al 2010) reflect adrenocortical activity adequately. Although the EIA measuring 11,17-DOA seems to perform slightly better and was therefore used for all subsequent analyses, both assays would be suited to provide information on the level of stress experienced by African buffalos.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining Adrenocortical Activity as a Measure of Stress in African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) Based on Faecal Analysis

et al. 2012

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Little is known about the levels of stress experienced by African buffalos affected by injury, disease, or socio-ecological and anthropogenic factors. To be able to start filling this gap, we examined the suitability of two 11-oxoaetiocholanolone enzyme-immunoassays (EIAs) detecting 11,17 dioxoandrostanes (11,17-DOA) as well as faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) with a 5b-3a-ol-11-one structure (3a,11oxo-CM), respectively, for monitoring stress-related physiological responses in African buffalo. An adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) challenge in one male and one female housed at Mokopane Biodiversity Conservation Centre, South Africa, showed a threefold increase in circulating cortisol levels in a sample taken 40 min post-injection. Corresponding 11,17-DOA levels increased tenfold (female) and 15-fold (male) above baseline, and 3a,11oxo-CM concentrations increased ninefold (female) and 12-fold (male) above pre-injection levels, indicating that both EIAs are suitable for measuring FGMs in African buffalo.In addition, 11,17-DOA levels monitored during the adaptation process of individual housing revealed an up to 14-fold elevation in FGMs. Storage of faeces at ambient temperature for up to 16 h post-defecation resulted in an significant increase in 11,17-DOA levels 2 h after defecation. Finally, higher individual baseline 11,17-DOA concentrations were found in samples defecated overnight, indicating a possible diurnal effect in excretion of FGMs in African buffalo.

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“…Our data are consistent with those from other studies of larger-bodied mammals (Wasser et al 1993;Schwarzenberger et al 1996;Ostner, Kappeler & Heistermann 2008) where gut passage-time is comparatively long as for the gorilla. In contrast, diurnal differences in FGCM levels are often seen in smallerbodied species (Sousa & Ziegler 1998;Beehner & Whitten 2004;Sheriff et al 2009;Kalliokoski et al 2012) and, more generally, in animal urine (e.g. Robbins & Czekala 1997;Muller & Lipson 2003) due to faster and more frequent excretion rates.…”

Section: Experiments 4 -Testing For Diurnal Effects On Fgcm Levels In mentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-invasive monitoring of physiological stress in the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): Validation of a fecal glucocorticoid assay and methods for practical application in the field

Shutt

Setchell

Heistermann

2012

General and Comparative Endocrinology

143

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(2012) 'Non-invasive monitoring of physiological stress in the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) : validation of a fecal glucocorticoid assay and methods for practical application in the eld.', General and comparative endocrinology., 179 (2). pp. 167-177. Further information on publisher's website:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2012.08.008Publisher's copyright statement: NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in General and Comparative Endocrinology. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A denitive version was subsequently published in General and Comparative Endocrinology, 179, 2, 2012, 10.1016/j.ygcen.2012 Additional information: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. They can be powerful conservation tools which allow acquisition of otherwiseunobtainable physiological information from both captive animal breeding and endangered wild animals in remote forest habitats, such as great apes. However, methods for hormone measurement, extraction and preservation need to be adapted and validated for remote field settings.2). In preparation for a field-study of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) in the Central African Republic we used samples from captive gorillas collected around opportunistic stressful situations to test whether four different glucocorticoid EIAs reflected adrenocortical activity reliably and to establish the lag-time from the stressor to peak excretion. We also validated a field extraction technique and carried out storage experiments to establish a simple, non-freezer-reliant method to preserve FGCMs in extracts long-term. Finally, we conducted field experiments to determine the rate of FGCM change over 28 days when samples in alcohol cannot be extracted immediately and over 12 hours when faeces cannot be preserved immediately in alcohol, and used repeat samples from identified individuals to test for diurnal variation in FGCMs.3). Two group-specific assays measuring major cortisol metabolites reliably detected the predicted FGCM response to the stressor, whereas more specific cortisol and corticosterone assays were distinctly less responsive and thus less useful. Our field extraction method performed as well as a laboratory extraction method and FGCMs 3 3 in dried extracts stored at ambient te...

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A non-invasive technique for analyzing fecal cortisol metabolites in snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus)

Cited by 56 publications

References 28 publications

The effect of ACTH upon faecal glucocorticoid excretion in the koala

The effect of ACTH upon faecal glucocorticoid excretion in the koala

Determining Adrenocortical Activity as a Measure of Stress in African Buffalo (Syncerus caffer) Based on Faecal Analysis

Non-invasive monitoring of physiological stress in the Western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla): Validation of a fecal glucocorticoid assay and methods for practical application in the field

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