A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species

Samuel K. Wasser; Kathleen E. Hunt; Janine L. Brown; Kathy Cooper; Carolyn M. Crockett; Ursula Bechert; Joshua J. Millspaugh; Shawn Larson; Steven L. Monfort

doi:10.1006/gcen.2000.7557

A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species

Samuel K. Wasser
, Kathleen E. Hunt
, Janine L. Brown
, Kathy Cooper
, Carolyn M. Crockett
, Ursula Bechert
, Joshua J. Millspaugh
, Shawn Larson
, Steven L. Monfort

W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

579 Scopus citations

Abstract

Noninvasive fecal glucocorticoid analysis has tremendous potential as a means of assessing stress associated with environmental disturbance in wildlife. However, interspecific variation in excreted glucocorticoid metabolites requires careful selection of the antibody used in their quantification. We compared four antibodies for detecting the major fecal cortisol metabolites in yellow baboons following ³H cortisol administration, ACTH challenge, and HPLC separation of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites. The most effective antibody (ICN corticosterone RIA; Cat. No. 07-120102) demonstrated relatively high cross-reactivities to the major cortisol metabolites present in feces during peak excretion, following both radiolabel infusion and ACTH challenge. This same antibody also detected increased fecal glucocorticoid metabolites after ACTH administration in the African elephant, black rhinoceros, Roosevelt elk, gerenuk, scimitarhorned oryx, Alaskan sea otter, Malayan sun bear, cheetah, clouded leopard, longtailed macaque, and northern spotted owl. Results suggest that (1) fecal glucocorticoid assays reliably detect endogenous changes in adrenal activity of a diverse array of species and (2) where comparisons were made, the ICN corticosterone antibody generally was superior to other antibodies for measuring glucocorticoid metabolites in feces.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	260-275
Number of pages	16
Journal	General and Comparative Endocrinology
Volume	120
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1006/gcen.2000.7557
State	Published - 2000

Funding

We acknowledge Nicole Maninger of the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Janis Joslin and keepers of Roosevelt elk and Malayan sun bear exhibits of the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Rami Woods, Angie Peace, Megan McLain, Eric Tilkens, Rob Woeck, Kristin Mitchell, Mike Smith, and Andy Quig of the University of Washington; Astrid Bellem, Laura Graham, Kendall Mashburn, Nadja Wielebnowski, Karen Terio, and Kirk Suedmeyer of the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center; Teri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo; Scott Citino, Linda Penfold, and Karen Hughes of the White Oak Conservation Center; Bruce Brewer of the Brookfield Zoo; Clayton Gredug, Lacet Geary, Glenn Goodman, and Scott Bentall of the Wildlife Safari; and Doug Bowden, Rita Bellanca, Charles Bowers, and Mika Shimoji of the Washington Regional Primate Research Center. Hadfield’s Pharmacy, Edmonds, Washington donated materials for the concentrated ACTH gel, prepared by Cliff MacDermid and Joel Hadfield. Valuable assistance in metabolite analyses were provided by H. Meyer, C. Shackleton, and P. Vecsei. Support for this project was provided by the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Women’s Committee and Scholarly Studies Programs of the Smithsonian Institution; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; Custer State Park; South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; and National Institutes of Health Grants (RR00166, RPRC core grant) and RR04515 to D. M. Bowden.

Funders	Funder number
Center for Wildlife Conservation
RR04515
Smithsonian Institution
P51RR000166, R24RR004515

Keywords

ACTH
Adrenal activation
Feces
Glucocorticoids
HPLC
Noninvasive measures
Radioimmunoassay
Stress physiology
Wildlife species

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10.1006/gcen.2000.7557

Cite this

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title = "A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species",

abstract = "Noninvasive fecal glucocorticoid analysis has tremendous potential as a means of assessing stress associated with environmental disturbance in wildlife. However, interspecific variation in excreted glucocorticoid metabolites requires careful selection of the antibody used in their quantification. We compared four antibodies for detecting the major fecal cortisol metabolites in yellow baboons following 3H cortisol administration, ACTH challenge, and HPLC separation of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites. The most effective antibody (ICN corticosterone RIA; Cat. No. 07-120102) demonstrated relatively high cross-reactivities to the major cortisol metabolites present in feces during peak excretion, following both radiolabel infusion and ACTH challenge. This same antibody also detected increased fecal glucocorticoid metabolites after ACTH administration in the African elephant, black rhinoceros, Roosevelt elk, gerenuk, scimitarhorned oryx, Alaskan sea otter, Malayan sun bear, cheetah, clouded leopard, longtailed macaque, and northern spotted owl. Results suggest that (1) fecal glucocorticoid assays reliably detect endogenous changes in adrenal activity of a diverse array of species and (2) where comparisons were made, the ICN corticosterone antibody generally was superior to other antibodies for measuring glucocorticoid metabolites in feces.",

keywords = "ACTH, Adrenal activation, Feces, Glucocorticoids, HPLC, Noninvasive measures, Radioimmunoassay, Stress physiology, Wildlife species",

author = "Wasser, \{Samuel K.\} and Hunt, \{Kathleen E.\} and Brown, \{Janine L.\} and Kathy Cooper and Crockett, \{Carolyn M.\} and Ursula Bechert and Millspaugh, \{Joshua J.\} and Shawn Larson and Monfort, \{Steven L.\}",

note = "Funding Information: We acknowledge Nicole Maninger of the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Janis Joslin and keepers of Roosevelt elk and Malayan sun bear exhibits of the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Rami Woods, Angie Peace, Megan McLain, Eric Tilkens, Rob Woeck, Kristin Mitchell, Mike Smith, and Andy Quig of the University of Washington; Astrid Bellem, Laura Graham, Kendall Mashburn, Nadja Wielebnowski, Karen Terio, and Kirk Suedmeyer of the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center; Teri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo; Scott Citino, Linda Penfold, and Karen Hughes of the White Oak Conservation Center; Bruce Brewer of the Brookfield Zoo; Clayton Gredug, Lacet Geary, Glenn Goodman, and Scott Bentall of the Wildlife Safari; and Doug Bowden, Rita Bellanca, Charles Bowers, and Mika Shimoji of the Washington Regional Primate Research Center. Hadfield{\textquoteright}s Pharmacy, Edmonds, Washington donated materials for the concentrated ACTH gel, prepared by Cliff MacDermid and Joel Hadfield. Valuable assistance in metabolite analyses were provided by H. Meyer, C. Shackleton, and P. Vecsei. Support for this project was provided by the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Women{\textquoteright}s Committee and Scholarly Studies Programs of the Smithsonian Institution; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; Custer State Park; South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; and National Institutes of Health Grants (RR00166, RPRC core grant) and RR04515 to D. M. Bowden.",

year = "2000",

doi = "10.1006/gcen.2000.7557",

language = "English",

volume = "120",

pages = "260--275",

journal = "General and Comparative Endocrinology",

issn = "0016-6480",

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T1 - A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species

AU - Wasser, Samuel K.

AU - Hunt, Kathleen E.

AU - Brown, Janine L.

AU - Cooper, Kathy

AU - Crockett, Carolyn M.

AU - Bechert, Ursula

AU - Millspaugh, Joshua J.

AU - Larson, Shawn

AU - Monfort, Steven L.

N1 - Funding Information: We acknowledge Nicole Maninger of the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Janis Joslin and keepers of Roosevelt elk and Malayan sun bear exhibits of the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Rami Woods, Angie Peace, Megan McLain, Eric Tilkens, Rob Woeck, Kristin Mitchell, Mike Smith, and Andy Quig of the University of Washington; Astrid Bellem, Laura Graham, Kendall Mashburn, Nadja Wielebnowski, Karen Terio, and Kirk Suedmeyer of the National Zoo Conservation and Research Center; Teri Roth of the Cincinnati Zoo; Scott Citino, Linda Penfold, and Karen Hughes of the White Oak Conservation Center; Bruce Brewer of the Brookfield Zoo; Clayton Gredug, Lacet Geary, Glenn Goodman, and Scott Bentall of the Wildlife Safari; and Doug Bowden, Rita Bellanca, Charles Bowers, and Mika Shimoji of the Washington Regional Primate Research Center. Hadfield’s Pharmacy, Edmonds, Washington donated materials for the concentrated ACTH gel, prepared by Cliff MacDermid and Joel Hadfield. Valuable assistance in metabolite analyses were provided by H. Meyer, C. Shackleton, and P. Vecsei. Support for this project was provided by the Center for Wildlife Conservation at the Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle; Women’s Committee and Scholarly Studies Programs of the Smithsonian Institution; Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation; Custer State Park; South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; and National Institutes of Health Grants (RR00166, RPRC core grant) and RR04515 to D. M. Bowden.

PY - 2000

Y1 - 2000

N2 - Noninvasive fecal glucocorticoid analysis has tremendous potential as a means of assessing stress associated with environmental disturbance in wildlife. However, interspecific variation in excreted glucocorticoid metabolites requires careful selection of the antibody used in their quantification. We compared four antibodies for detecting the major fecal cortisol metabolites in yellow baboons following 3H cortisol administration, ACTH challenge, and HPLC separation of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites. The most effective antibody (ICN corticosterone RIA; Cat. No. 07-120102) demonstrated relatively high cross-reactivities to the major cortisol metabolites present in feces during peak excretion, following both radiolabel infusion and ACTH challenge. This same antibody also detected increased fecal glucocorticoid metabolites after ACTH administration in the African elephant, black rhinoceros, Roosevelt elk, gerenuk, scimitarhorned oryx, Alaskan sea otter, Malayan sun bear, cheetah, clouded leopard, longtailed macaque, and northern spotted owl. Results suggest that (1) fecal glucocorticoid assays reliably detect endogenous changes in adrenal activity of a diverse array of species and (2) where comparisons were made, the ICN corticosterone antibody generally was superior to other antibodies for measuring glucocorticoid metabolites in feces.

AB - Noninvasive fecal glucocorticoid analysis has tremendous potential as a means of assessing stress associated with environmental disturbance in wildlife. However, interspecific variation in excreted glucocorticoid metabolites requires careful selection of the antibody used in their quantification. We compared four antibodies for detecting the major fecal cortisol metabolites in yellow baboons following 3H cortisol administration, ACTH challenge, and HPLC separation of fecal glucocorticoid metabolites. The most effective antibody (ICN corticosterone RIA; Cat. No. 07-120102) demonstrated relatively high cross-reactivities to the major cortisol metabolites present in feces during peak excretion, following both radiolabel infusion and ACTH challenge. This same antibody also detected increased fecal glucocorticoid metabolites after ACTH administration in the African elephant, black rhinoceros, Roosevelt elk, gerenuk, scimitarhorned oryx, Alaskan sea otter, Malayan sun bear, cheetah, clouded leopard, longtailed macaque, and northern spotted owl. Results suggest that (1) fecal glucocorticoid assays reliably detect endogenous changes in adrenal activity of a diverse array of species and (2) where comparisons were made, the ICN corticosterone antibody generally was superior to other antibodies for measuring glucocorticoid metabolites in feces.

KW - ACTH

KW - Adrenal activation

KW - Feces

KW - Glucocorticoids

KW - HPLC

KW - Noninvasive measures

KW - Radioimmunoassay

KW - Stress physiology

KW - Wildlife species

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/0034523616

U2 - 10.1006/gcen.2000.7557

DO - 10.1006/gcen.2000.7557

M3 - Article

C2 - 11121291

AN - SCOPUS:0034523616

SN - 0016-6480

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JF - General and Comparative Endocrinology

IS - 3

ER -

A generalized fecal glucocorticoid assay for use in a diverse array of nondomestic mammalian and avian species

Abstract

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Keywords

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