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9 results for “faecal glucocorticoid metabolites”
Data and code for: Previous assessments of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Cape Mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) were flawed
<p>Steroid hormones, especially glucocorticoids (GCs), are widely used to assess physiological responses to stressors. As steroid hormones are heavily metabolised prior to excretion, it is essential to validate enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs). Although problems with unvalidated assays have been raised repeatedly, their use persists widely. Lea et al. (2017) used an unvalidated corticosterone assay (CJM006) to relate fGCM concentrations to habitat quality, demography, and population performance in the Cape mountain zebra (<em>Equus zebra zebra</em>). Here, we revisit their findings and evaluate the validity of their conclusions using a validated EIA. First, we evaluate the biological sensitivity of six EIAs (three group-specific metabolite assays and three corticosterone assays, including CJM006) through a biological validation experiment (translocation) for two sub-species of mountain zebra, Cape mountain and Hartmann's mountain zebra (<em>E. z. hartmannae</em>). Second, we reanalyse the faecal extracts from Lea et al. (2017) using a validated EIA. fGCM concentrations consistently increased following translocation, when using two 11-oxoaetiocholanolone (lab codes: 72T and 72a) and an 11ß-hydroxyaetiocholanolone (69a) EIA, but did not with three different corticosterone EIAs. All corticosterone EIAs (including CJM006) failed to detect an increase in fGCMs within the critical 48–72-hour period post translocation. Therefore, the CJM006 EIA utilised in Lea et al. (2017) does not sensitively measure hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity in CMZ faeces.</p> <p>Using a validated assay (72T), fGCM concentrations were no longer associated with adult sex ratio or habitat quality (measured by grassiness) and these variables were dropped from predictive models. fGCM concentrations now varied between seasons and were negatively associated with female fecundity (foal:mare ratio). Consequently, we can conclude that the results of the previous study are unreliable. We introduce the terms "insensitive" and "sub-optimal" to categorise assays that are tested but fail validation, and assays that are comparatively poor at detecting relevant hormone changes, respectively. We discuss how both "insensitive" and "sub-optimal" assays could lead to incorrect inferences about population stressors and counterproductive conservation recommendations.</p> <p>In this dataset, we provide all R code scripts, raw data and data to reproducible all results and figures in Previous assessments of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Cape Mountain zebra (<em>Equus zebra zebra</em>) were flawed. We have structured the project as an internally consistent directory with files corresponding to code, data, raw lab_ouputs, and figures. </p>
Data and code for: Previous assessments of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites in Cape Mountain zebra (Equus zebra zebra) were flawed
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Quantification of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites as a measure of stress in the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) living in an urban green space
<p>Despite the abundance of rock hyrax (<i>Procavia capensis</i>) within South Africa's urban areas, there is not much information available about the effect of anthropogenic activities on rock hyrax wellbeing. To determine the potential impact of anthropogenic disturbance on adrenocortical activity, we conducted an ACTH challenge to identify a suitable enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) for measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) concentrations in the rock hyrax. This study identified an 11β-hydroxyaetiocholanolone EIA as the most suitable assay in this regard. The fGCM levels measured, indicate the physiological stress response in different rock hyrax populations, living in an area with varying degrees of anthropogenic activity (low, medium, high) within the National Botanical Garden of Pretoria, South Africa. The species' habituation to human numbers <span>(weekly mean number of people</span>) was examined by determining individual flight initiation distance (FID). Seasonally, there were overall higher fGCM concentrations in late spring compared to winter. The fGCM concentrations, although not significantly different but possibly biologically relevant, in the section with the lowest anthropogenic disturbance were ~10% higher compared to those in the section with medium disturbance, and ~20% higher compared to those in the section with the highest disturbance. Animal FID did not differ significantly between seasons but they did differ significantly between sections, and decreased in accordance with fGCM concentrations. The non-invasive approach established in this study provides a foundation for assessing rock hyrax wellbeing, and can help better understand how anthropogenic presence is perceived as a stressor in this species.</p>
Quantification of faecal glucocorticoid metabolites as a measure of stress in the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) living in an urban green space
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Data from: The importance of individual heterogeneity for interpreting faecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in wildlife studies
1. Being a non-invasive and inexpensive method, the analysis of faecal corticosteroid metabolites (FCM) is increasingly being applied in wildlife research. Various environmental factors have been shown to influence FCM levels, but most studies did not account for inter-individual variance, which we hypothesized may substantially affect the results. 2. We combined FCM analysis with genetic analysis to identify the sex and individual of samples collected in three consecutive winters, with repeated samples per individual, across the entire range of an endangered population of capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus) in Southwestern Germany. Using generalized additive mixed models, we modelled FCM levels as a function of sex, season and environmental covariates at two spatial scales (sampling location and home range scales). We compared two models: one including information on the individual animal, and the other excluding this information (i.e. naïve model) to assess the influence of individual effects on the results obtained. 3. Most of the variance (44.0% and 45.1% at the sampling and home range scale, respectively) was explained by the inter-individual differences, and only very little (4.0% and 5.1%, respectively) by the environmental predictors. When ignoring individual effects, the model results changed considerably, with other, previously non-informative predictors, becoming significant. 4. In the full models, accounting for inter-individual variance, no effect was found of weather conditions, at either scale. FCM levels were negatively correlated with habitat quality, at the sampling location, whereas human recreation at the home range scale led to elevated FCM levels. In the naïve models, two additional predictors appeared significant: one weather variable at local scales and two at home range scale. In all models, seasonal FCM patterns differed significantly between males and females. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our results highlight the importance of considering the effects of individual heterogeneity when studying FCM in wildlife research, as ignoring information on the individual might lead to erroneous conclusions. Combining FCM analyses with genetic analyses can be an efficient approach to adequately address this issue.21-Feb-2018
Data from: A field-friendly method of measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentration as a simple stress checker in snow leopards
<p>Hormonal analysis of excrement has been employed to noninvasively assess the physiological conditions of domestic, experimental, zoo, and wild animals to. However, conventional hormone analysis techniques require frozen and refrigerated reagents, and laboratory equipment; therefore, it is almost impossible to obtain the results on-site. This study attempted to establish a method for the simple and rapid quantitative on-site analysis of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGM) concentrations; this method involved using hand-shaking for faecal hormone extraction, and immunochromatography using test strips and a smartphone application. This study focused specifically on snow leopards and developed a new, simple fGM measurement method to evaluate their stress levels on-site.</p> <p>First, the effects of ultraviolet exposure and bacterial activity on fGM concentration, including sample age, were evaluated using faeces from a captive snow leopard. Second, a field-friendly hormone extraction method was evaluated; this method does not require storage of faeces in the field because the hormones are extracted by hand-shaking of faeces in ethanol at the time of collection. In addition, to measure hormone concentrations on-site, a simple immunochromatography measurement kit was used. The concentrations were measured by quantifying the colour reactions using a smartphone application.</p> <p>There was no consistent increase or decrease in fGM concentration with ultraviolet irradiation time. In addition, a high correlation was observed between concentrations extracted using the conventional method (using a vortex mixer and methanol extraction) and those from the field-friendly method (r = 0.812, <i>P </i>< 0.05). Changes in fGM concentration measured using immunochromatography were also highly consistent with those measured using the conventional method (enzyme-immunoassay) (r = 0.825, <i>P</i> < 0.05). The analytical validation of immunochromatography also showed high accuracy, i.e. parallelism (ANCOVA: F = 0.597, df = 1, <i>P</i> = 0.445) and recovery tests (98.2% ± 5.1% and 107.5% ± 18.7%). Further, for biological validation, the change in fGM concentration was examined before and after the transportation of the snow leopards to another zoo.</p> <p>This field-friendly hormone analysis method is expected to contribute as a simple and rapid stress evaluation tool to manage conservation and animal welfare by monitoring the stress levels.</p>
Sungazer urinary and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations
<p>The urinary and faecal glucocorticoid metabolite results following an adrenocorticotropic hormone challenge in the sungazer, <em>Smaug giganteus</em></p>
Data from: A field-friendly method of measuring faecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentration as a simple stress checker in snow leopards
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Data from: The importance of individual heterogeneity for interpreting faecal glucocorticoid metabolite levels in wildlife studies
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
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