Measuring Fecal Steroids: Guidelines for Practical Application

Palme, Rupert

doi:10.1196/annals.1343.007

Cited by 438 publications

(451 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Noninvasive hormone analysis is an established technique for monitoring the functional status of the hypothalamic-pituitarygonadal as well as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axes (Palme 2005;Schwarzenberger 2007;Hodges et al 2010). The method has gained popularity among wildlife endocrinologists after recognition of the practical difficulties and welfare implications of collecting blood samples from free-ranging animals, and it is often advantageous because it allows assessments of the endocrine status without perturbing the study animal (Heistermann et al 1995;Whitten et al 1998;Monfort 2003;Touma and Palme 2005;Sheriff et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of Noninvasive Monitoring of Adrenocortical Endocrine Activity in Ground-Feeding Aardwolves (Proteles cristata): Exemplifying the Influence of Consumption of Inorganic Material for Fecal Steroid Analysis

Ganswindt

Muilwijk²,

Engelkes³

et al. 2012

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

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JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.http://www.jstor.org ABSTRACTBiologically inert material in feces may confound interpretations of noninvasive fecal endocrine data, because it may induce variance related to differences in foraging behavior rather than to differences in endocrine activity. We evaluated two different enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for the noninvasive evaluation of adrenocortical activity in ground-feeding aardwolves (Proteles cristata) and tested the influence of soil content in aardwolf feces on the interpretation of fecal glucocorticoid metabolite data. Using adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenges for validation, we successfully identified a cortisol EIA suitable for assessing adrenocortical activity in aardwolves. An alternatively tested 11-oxoetiocholanolone EIA failed to detect a biologically relevant signal after ACTH administration. Although the proportion of inorganic content in aardwolf feces did not alter qualitative conclusions from the endocrine data, the data related to mass of organic content had a larger amount of variance attributed to relevant biological contrasts and a lower amount of variance attributed to individual variation, compared with data related to total dry mass of extracted material. Compared with data expressed as dry mass of extracted material, data expressed as mass of organic content may provide a more refined and statistically powerful measure of endocrine activity in species that ingest large amounts of indigestible material.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Validation of Noninvasive Monitoring of Adrenocortical Endocrine Activity in Ground-Feeding Aardwolves (Proteles cristata): Exemplifying the Influence of Consumption of Inorganic Material for Fecal Steroid Analysis

Ganswindt

Muilwijk²,

Engelkes³

et al. 2012

Physiological and Biochemical Zoology

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“…2010). The rate at which T is excreted in feces depends on the overall metabolism and defecation frequency of the organism (Palme 2005), but a reasonable estimate is 24–48 h (Tell 1997). Therefore, we do not find a daily pattern in T levels although there is evidence that it exists in plasma T (Kempenaers et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal and urban effects on the endocrinology of a wild passerine

Russ

Reitemeier

Weißmann

et al. 2015

Ecology and Evolution

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In order to maximize their fitness, organisms in seasonal environments rely on external cues to optimally time their life‐history stages. One of the most important zeitgeber to time reproduction is the photoperiod, but further environmental cues are assessed to fine‐tune reproduction due to year‐to‐year variation in environmental conditions. However, in urbanized environments, the pervasive artificial light at night has altered the natural signal of light and darkness. Accordingly, artificial light at night was repeatedly shown to affect avian reproductive physiology and to advance seasonal reproduction in birds. However, these experiments were mainly conducted in the absence of further environmental cues to facilitate the investigation of the mechanisms which are still poorly understood. Here, we investigate whether the endocrine system of free‐ranging European blackbirds (Turdus merula) correlates with the amount of artificial light at night along a rural to urban gradient while the birds still encounter complementary environmental cues including seasonal variation in day length and temperature. Testosterone and estrone were assessed as metabolites in fecal samples and corticosterone in blood from mist‐netted blackbirds. We demonstrate that seasonal fluctuations in abiotic factors, individual conditions, but also light at night affect the reproductive and stress physiology of wild European blackbirds. Elevated artificial night light intensities were significantly positively correlated with corticosterone and negatively with female estrone levels. No effects of artificial light were found for testosterone levels. Our results suggest that female blackbirds in particular perceive even low levels of artificial light at night as a weak but chronic stressor that interacts with the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐gonadal axis and leads to a reduced secretion of reproductive hormones. These findings point out that the impacts of light pollution are diverse and we only slowly disentangle its multiple effects on physiology, ecology, and biodiversity.

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“…The steroid extraction method recommended by Palme (2005) was used. The amounts of GCM were determined using a cortisol EIA, previously described by Palme and Möstl (1997).…”

Section: Determination Of Faecal Gcmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, using these techniques to reliably assess an animal's adrenocortical activity is not that simple and straightforward to apply. Because clear differences regarding the metabolism and excretion of GCM exist between species, and sometimes even between sexes within a given species , a careful validation for each species and sex investigated is obligatory (Palme 2005.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of two methods for glucocorticoid evaluation in maned wolves

et al. 2011

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Pesq. Vet. Bras. 31(Supl. Analysis of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites provides a powerful noninvasive tool for monitoring adrenocortical activity in wild animals. However, differences regarding the metabolism and excretion of these substances make a validation for each species and sex investigated obligatory. Although maned wolves (Chrysocyon brachyurus) are the biggest canids in South America, their behaviour and physiology are poorly known and they are at risk in the wild. Two methods for measuring glucocorticoid metabolites in maned wolves were validated: a radio-and an enzyme immunoassay. An ACTH challenge was used to demonstrate that changes in adrenal function are reϐlected in faecal glucocorticoid metabolites. Our results suggest that both methods enable a reliable assessment of stress hormones in maned wolves avoiding short-term rises in glucocorticoid concentrations due to handling and restraint. These methods can be used as a valuable tool in studies of stress and conservation in this wild species.INDEX TERMS: ACTH, corticosterone, cortisol, immunoassay, non-invasive monitoring, stress. foram validados: um radio-e um enzima-imuno-ensaio. Um desaϐio de ACTH foi usado para demonstrar que alterações no funcionamento adrenal podem ser detectadas nas concentrações metabólitos de glicocorticóides fecais. Nossos resultados sugerem que ambos os métodos possibilitam uma avaliação conϐiável dos hormônios relacionados ao estresse em lobos guarás, evitando assim aumentos de curta duração nas concentrações glicocorticóides, devidos ao manejo e contenção. Esses métodos podem ser usados como uma ferramenta valiosa em estudos de estresse e conservação com essa espécie silvestre.

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Measuring Fecal Steroids: Guidelines for Practical Application

Cited by 438 publications

References 19 publications

Validation of Noninvasive Monitoring of Adrenocortical Endocrine Activity in Ground-Feeding Aardwolves (Proteles cristata): Exemplifying the Influence of Consumption of Inorganic Material for Fecal Steroid Analysis

Validation of Noninvasive Monitoring of Adrenocortical Endocrine Activity in Ground-Feeding Aardwolves (Proteles cristata): Exemplifying the Influence of Consumption of Inorganic Material for Fecal Steroid Analysis

Seasonal and urban effects on the endocrinology of a wild passerine

Comparison of two methods for glucocorticoid evaluation in maned wolves

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