Effects of simulated environmental conditions on glucocorticoid metabolite measurements in white-tailed deer feces

Washburn, Brian E.; Millspaugh, Joshua J.

doi:10.1016/s0016-6480(02)00056-4

Cited by 114 publications

(100 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The origin of all these differences is the confluence of multiple causes pointed out by other authors: specificity of microbes in the feces that metabolize the fecal steroids, effect of temperature on steroid metabolite degradation, environmental moisture which allows the growth of microbes and fungi, change in metabolite affinity for antibodies, and the different chemical stability of each hormone (Matkovics 1972;Woods 1975;Neumann et al 2002;Terio et al 2002;Washburn and Millspaugh 2002;Millspaugh and Washburn 2004). Exhaustive condition-controlled laboratory metabolism studies, followed by precise identification of new metabolites, HPLC mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, or infrared spectroscopy, are recommended to find out the precise hormone metabolism and degradation processes and the factors affecting them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because of microbial metabolism and other biochemical processes that occur over time, changes in humidity and temperature are probably the most influential environmental factors affecting steroid metabolite concentration in feces of free-ranging animals (Washburn and Millspaugh 2002;Terio et al 2002). Moreover, under field conditions, the fecal material undergoes changes in water content derived from its exposure to changing seasonal environmental conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of fecal age and seasonality on steroid hormone concentration as a reproductive parameter in field studies

2010

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We studied how fecal age (6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 168 h) and seasonality affect variation in the fecal steroid hormone metabolite concentration in three endangered mammalian species, Mhorr gazelle, Saharan Barbary sheep, and the Iberian lynx. Except for estrogens, concentrations remained stable for at least 48 h in the Mhorr gazelle and the Saharan Barbary sheep. Steroid hormone metabolite concentration remained stable in the Iberian lynx throughout the experiment (1 week). Seasonality was the main factor affecting variation in hormone metabolite concentrations, and although the response was species-and hormone-specific, the dry season resulted in increased hormone metabolite concentrations, while the wet season reduced the concentration.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of fecal age and seasonality on steroid hormone concentration as a reproductive parameter in field studies

2010

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“…Therefore, when more subtle patterns are the target of interest, minimizing this noise is essential in order to detect real biological differences with strong resolution. One potential source of ''noise'' is the change in fecal steroid concentration as a result of the conditions of sample storage (Washburn and Millspaugh, 2002;Whitten et al, 1998). A related issue is that of directional change in steroid concentration through time in storage, which could lead to bias in sample values based on storage duration (Khan et al, 2002).…”

Section: Endocrinologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Experiments on the effects of medium-term storage on fecal steroids (e.g., Khan et al, 2002;Terio et al, 2002;Washburn and Millspaugh, 2002) have lagged behind those for urinary steroids (e.g., Brown et al, 1995;Grant and Beastall, 1983;Kesner et al, 1995), despite the recognition that, due to the bacterial load in fecal matter, steroids are inherently less stable in feces than in urine , and in fact, steroid levels can change within hours following defecation if samples are not immediately preserved (M€ o ostl et al, 1999). This study considers the effects of short-term, weeks-long, storage conditions on quantifiable fecal testosterone (fT), glucocorticoid (fGC), estrogen (fE), and progestagen (fP) concentrations in wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus).…”

Section: Endocrinologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Concentrations of four fecal steroids in wild baboons: short-term storage conditions and consequences for data interpretation

Lynch

Khan

Altmann

et al. 2003

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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One source of both bias and ''noise'' in fecal steroid analysis is temporal change in steroid concentrations resulting from duration or conditions of fecal sample storage. However, no consensus currently exists regarding correct procedures or precautions necessary for fecal sample storage, and conditions vary widely within field endocrinology literature. This study considered the effects of shortterm, weeks-long, storage conditions on quantifiable fecal testosterone (fT), glucocorticoids (fGC), estrogens (fE), and progestagen (fP) metabolite concentrations in wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus). Quadruplicate subsamples of fecal samples (n ¼ 29) collected at Amboseli National Park and its environs were subjected to four different storage conditions prior to lyophilization, in order to determine the effects of storage on subsequent steroid concentrations, as assessed by 125 I radioimmunoassays. As expected, the best alternative to the ''initial condition'' of lyophilization at three days after collection was to freeze fecal samples at )20°C for two weeks prior to lyophilization. This storage method resulted in no significant change from initial steroid concentrations for fE, fT, or fP, although fGC showed a slight but significant decline. Storage for two weeks in a charcoal refrigerator caused a mean increase in all four steroid concentrations. However, the results from this storage condition were robust in terms of practical questions asked of the data: fE and fP values still reflected pregnant versus non-pregnant states in baboon females; a fGC profile constructed by age class resembled that created from the samples from the initial condition, although slightly inflated across age classes; and there were only moderate changes in relative fT concentrations across adult males. Knowledge of the effects of storage upon each steroid analyzed within oneÕs study is a necessary component in determining the optimal compromise for storage protocol in a particular research project.

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“…FGCM assays must be validated for each species (Bahr et al 2000;Touma & Palme 2005;Heistermann, Palme & Ganswindt 2006) as must methods to preserve the fecal samples (or the steroid hormones therein) in the field (Ziegler & Wittwer 2005). Additionally, the effects of sampling limitations on the FGCM levels found in faeces [e.g., postdefecation degradation due to aged samples or environmental effects; (Mostl et al 1999;Washburn & Millspaugh 2002) and diurnal variation in individual FGCM output (Sousa & Ziegler 1998;Raminelli et al 2001;Beehner & Whitten 2004) should be assessed and considered in the final analyses. Thus, before these techniques can be used to their full potential in wild animal populations, the most suitable field sampling protocols for a given study population need to be developed (Washburn & Millspaugh 2002).…”

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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Effects of simulated environmental conditions on glucocorticoid metabolite measurements in white-tailed deer feces

Cited by 114 publications

References 21 publications

Effects of fecal age and seasonality on steroid hormone concentration as a reproductive parameter in field studies

Effects of fecal age and seasonality on steroid hormone concentration as a reproductive parameter in field studies

Concentrations of four fecal steroids in wild baboons: short-term storage conditions and consequences for data interpretation

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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