(Table 1) Cortisol concentration in hair of East Greenland polar bears (Ursus maritimus) ...

• Main Authors: Bechshøft, Thea Ø, Sonne, Christian, Dietz, Rune, Born, Erik W, Novak, M A, Henchey, E, Meyer, J S
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2011
• Subjects: Sex; Age, relative, number of years; Sampling date; Status; Cortisol; International Polar Year 2007-2008 IPY; East Greenland; Greenland; International Polar Year; IPY; Ursus maritimus
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.807316; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.807316

To demonstrate the ability to assess long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis activity in polar bears (Ursus maritimus), a pilot study was conducted in which cortisol concentration was analyzed in hair from 7 female (3-19 years) and 10 male (6-19 years) East Greenland polar bears sampled in 1994-2006. The hair was chosen as matrix as it is non-invasive, seasonally harmonized, and has been validated as an index of long-term changes in cortisol levels. The samples were categorized according to contamination: eight were clean (2 females, 6 males), 5 had been contaminated with bear blood (2 F, 3 M), and 4 with bear fat (3 F, 1 M). There was no significant difference in cortisol concentration between the three categories after external contamination was removed. However, contaminated hair samples should be cleaned before cortisol determination. Average hair cortisol concentration was 8.90 pg/mg (range: 5.5 to 16.4 pg/mg). There was no significant correlation between cortisol concentration and ... : Data extracted in the frame of a joint ICSTI/PANGAEA IPY effort, see http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.150150 ...