Physiological and behavioral effects of exogenous corticosterone in a free-ranging ectotherm

Claunch, Natalie M.; Frazier, Julius A.; Escallón, Camilo; Vernasco, Ben J.; Taylor, Emily N.

doi:10.1016/j.ygcen.2017.02.008

Cited by 29 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…rostral lesions incurred by rubbing their heads against transparent boundaries, are regarded as indicators for impaired welfare. However, in a study by Claunch et al (2017), corticosterone administered to the Southern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus helleri) by an implant with 3.6 mg (snakes less than 800 g) or 6.1 mg (snakes of more than 800 g) did not mediate their behavioral trait expression. Therefore, observing snake's behavior might not be the best way to ascertain chronic stress.…”

Section: Assessment Of Chronic Stressmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…This is only temporarily and allows the individual to quickly return to its normal activities (Dantzer et al, 2014;Dickens and Romero, 2013). In contrast, a chronic, sustained response with non-adaptive levels of glucocorticoid secretion, will disturb chronically normal activities, leading to an impaired welfare (Claunch et al, 2017;Dantzer et al, 2014;Davis et al, 2008;Dickens and Romero, 2013;Tarlow and Blumstein, 2007). Determination and quantification of stress are pivotal because of its relation to the general performance and health of the individual.…”

Section: Stress In Wild and Captive Snakes: Quantification Effects Amentioning

confidence: 99%

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Stress bij in het wild en in gevangenschap levende slangen: kwantificatie, gevolgen en het belang van management

Waeyenberge¹,

Aerts²,

Hellebuyck³

et al. 2018

Vlaams Diergeneeskundig Tijdschrift

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As in other animals, distress and impaired welfare have a deleterious effect on the mental, physical and behavioral health of snakes in the wild and in captivity. Besides anthropogenic disturbance, the availability of food and shelter, the presence of predators, and environmental factors, such as seasonality and climatological changes, are important factors that affect the stress level and subsequent welfare in wild snake populations. In captive snakes, inappropriate management is the most prominent cause of chronic stress and impaired welfare. Chronic stress can be assumed by looking at the snake’s behavior, but there is need for a standardized quantification method to pin-point more accurately (chronic) stress levels. The biomarker suitable in this framework is the level of corticosterone in plasma, feces and shed skin.

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Section: Assessment Of Chronic Stressmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Stress In Wild and Captive Snakes: Quantification Effects Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress bij in het wild en in gevangenschap levende slangen: kwantificatie, gevolgen en het belang van management

Waeyenberge¹,

Aerts²,

Hellebuyck³

et al. 2018

Vlaams Diergeneeskundig Tijdschrift

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“…We emphasize that our inconclusive testosterone results are thus a demonstration of how experimental manipulations, instead of purely correlative studies, are the key to uncovering the proximate causes of ontogenetic shifts in venom. Experimental manipulation of levels of several metabolic and maturation hormones is now commonplace in reptiles [ 29 , 39 ]. Future studies that manipulate hormone levels in neonate snakes and conduct before and after sampling of venom will be particularly valuable in uncovering the triggers of shifts in venom phenotypes as snakes grow.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It also has biological relevance, as ontogenetic shifts in venom composition can impact the ability of snakes to incapacitate certain species of prey [ 22 ]. Although the presence of shifts has been demonstrated across many species, less is known about their tempo, either as gradual or sudden processes, and the proximate physiological signals that might initiate shifts in venom composition remain largely unexplored [ 10 , 29 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gradual and Discrete Ontogenetic Shifts in Rattlesnake Venom Composition and Assessment of Hormonal and Ecological Correlates

Schonour

Huff

Holding

et al. 2020

Toxins

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Ontogenetic shifts in venom occur in many snakes but establishing their nature as gradual or discrete processes required additional study. We profiled shifts in venom expression from the neonate to adult sizes of two rattlesnake species, the eastern diamondback and the timber rattlesnake. We used serial sampling and venom chromatographic profiling to test if ontogenetic change occurs gradually or discretely. We found evidence for gradual shifts in overall venom composition in six of eight snakes, which sometimes spanned more than two years. Most chromatographic peaks shift gradually, but one quarter shift in a discrete fashion. Analysis of published diet data showed gradual shifts in overall diet composition across the range of body sizes attained by our eight study animals, while the shifts in abundance of different prey classes varied in form from gradual to discrete. Testosterone concentrations were correlated with the change in venom protein composition, but the relationship is not strong enough to suggest causation. Venom research employing simple juvenile versus adult size thresholds may be failing to account for continuous variation in venom composition lifespan. Our results imply that venom shifts represent adaptive matches to dietary shifts and highlight venom for studies of alternative gene regulatory mechanisms.

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“…These signals then interact with the HPA and HPT axes to promote individual survival, often at the cost of reproductive function (Romero and Wingfield, 2015). Theoretically, exogenous administration of CORT should bypass these earliest stages of the stress response (Astheimer et al, 1999; Claunch et al, 2017; Romero and Wingfield, 2015). Without input from the limbic system, upstream neuroendocrine and endocrine signaling does not activate the hypothalamic and pituitary stress response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Isolating the role of corticosterone in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal genomic stress response

Austin

Harris

Booth

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The negative impacts of stress on reproduction have long been studied. A large focus of investigation has centered around the effects of the adrenal steroid hormone corticosterone (CORT) on a system of tissues vital for reproduction, the hypothalamus of the brain, the pituitary gland, and the gonads (the HPG axis). Investigations of the role of CORT on the HPG axis have predominated the stress and reproductive biology literature, potentially overshadowing other influential mediators. To gain a more complete understanding of how elevated CORT, characteristic of the stress response, affects the activity of the HPG axis, we experimentally examined its role at the level of the genome in both male and female rock doves (Columba livia). We exogenously administrated CORT to mimic circulating levels during the stress response, specifically 30 min of restraint stress, an experimental paradigm known to increase circulating corticosterone in vertebrates. We examined all changes in genomic transcription within the HPG axis as compared to both restraint-stressed birds and vehicle-injected controls, as well as between the sexes. We report causal and sex-specific effects of CORT on the HPG stress response at the level of the transcriptome. Restraint stress caused 1567 genes to uniquely differentially express while elevated circulating CORT was responsible for the differential expression of 304 genes. Only 108 genes in females and 8 in males differentially expressed in subjects who underwent restraint stress and those who were given exogenous CORT. In response to CORT elevation characteristic of the stress response, both sexes shared the differential expression of 5 genes, KCNJ5, CISH, PTGER3, CEBPD, and ZBTB16, all located in the pituitary. The known functions of these genes suggest potential influence of elevated CORT on immune function and prolactin synthesis. Gene expression unique to each sex indicated that elevated CORT affected more gene transcription in females than males (78 genes versus 3 genes, respectively). To our knowledge, this is the first study to isolate the role of CORT in HPG genomic transcription during a stress response. These results provide novel targets for new lines of further investigation and therapy development. We present an extensive and openly accessible view of the role corticosterone in the HPG genomic stress response, offering novel gene targets to inspire new lines of investigation of stress-induced reproductive dysfunction. Because the HPG system is well-conserved across vertebrates, these data have the potential to inspire new therapeutic strategies for reproductive dysregulation in multiple vertebrate systems, including our own.

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Physiological and behavioral effects of exogenous corticosterone in a free-ranging ectotherm

Cited by 29 publications

References 79 publications

Stress bij in het wild en in gevangenschap levende slangen: kwantificatie, gevolgen en het belang van management

Stress bij in het wild en in gevangenschap levende slangen: kwantificatie, gevolgen en het belang van management

Gradual and Discrete Ontogenetic Shifts in Rattlesnake Venom Composition and Assessment of Hormonal and Ecological Correlates

Isolating the role of corticosterone in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal genomic stress response

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