Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus).
Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), a taxonomically unique Arctic species, are increasingly exposed to climate and other anthropogenic changes. It is critical to develop and validate reliable tools to monitor their physiological stress response in order to assess the impacts of these changes. Here, we meas...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:66b926ec07044c1a9c25218e30a94dbb 2023-05-15T15:00:39+02:00 Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). Juliette Di Francesco Gabriela F Mastromonaco Janice E Rowell John Blake Sylvia L Checkley Susan Kutz 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/article/66b926ec07044c1a9c25218e30a94dbb EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/article/66b926ec07044c1a9c25218e30a94dbb PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 4, p e0249281 (2021) Medicine R Science Q article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 2022-12-31T11:53:36Z Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), a taxonomically unique Arctic species, are increasingly exposed to climate and other anthropogenic changes. It is critical to develop and validate reliable tools to monitor their physiological stress response in order to assess the impacts of these changes. Here, we measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels in response to the administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the winter (1 IU/kg) and summer (2 IU/kg) using two enzyme immunoassays, one targeting primarily cortisol and the other targeting primarily corticosterone. Fecal cortisol levels varied substantially within and among individuals, and none of the animals in either challenge showed an increase in fecal cortisol following the injection of ACTH. By contrast, two of six (winter) and two of five (summer) muskoxen showed a clear response in fecal corticosterone levels (i.e., maximal percentage increase as compared to time 0 levels > 100%). Increases in fecal corticosterone post-ACTH injection occurred earlier and were of shorter duration in the summer than in the winter and fecal corticosterone levels were, in general, lower during the summer. These seasonal differences in FGM responses may be related to the use of different individuals (i.e., influence of sex, age, social status, etc.) and to seasonal variations in the metabolism and excretion of glucocorticoids, intestinal transit time, voluntary food intake, and fecal output and moisture content. Results from this study support using FGMs as a biomarker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen, advance our understanding of the physiological adaptations of mammals living in highly seasonal and extreme environments such as the Arctic, and emphasize the importance of considering seasonality in other species when interpreting FGM levels. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic ovibos moschatus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS ONE 16 4 e0249281 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Juliette Di Francesco Gabriela F Mastromonaco Janice E Rowell John Blake Sylvia L Checkley Susan Kutz Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus), a taxonomically unique Arctic species, are increasingly exposed to climate and other anthropogenic changes. It is critical to develop and validate reliable tools to monitor their physiological stress response in order to assess the impacts of these changes. Here, we measured fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) levels in response to the administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the winter (1 IU/kg) and summer (2 IU/kg) using two enzyme immunoassays, one targeting primarily cortisol and the other targeting primarily corticosterone. Fecal cortisol levels varied substantially within and among individuals, and none of the animals in either challenge showed an increase in fecal cortisol following the injection of ACTH. By contrast, two of six (winter) and two of five (summer) muskoxen showed a clear response in fecal corticosterone levels (i.e., maximal percentage increase as compared to time 0 levels > 100%). Increases in fecal corticosterone post-ACTH injection occurred earlier and were of shorter duration in the summer than in the winter and fecal corticosterone levels were, in general, lower during the summer. These seasonal differences in FGM responses may be related to the use of different individuals (i.e., influence of sex, age, social status, etc.) and to seasonal variations in the metabolism and excretion of glucocorticoids, intestinal transit time, voluntary food intake, and fecal output and moisture content. Results from this study support using FGMs as a biomarker of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen, advance our understanding of the physiological adaptations of mammals living in highly seasonal and extreme environments such as the Arctic, and emphasize the importance of considering seasonality in other species when interpreting FGM levels. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Juliette Di Francesco Gabriela F Mastromonaco Janice E Rowell John Blake Sylvia L Checkley Susan Kutz |
author_facet |
Juliette Di Francesco Gabriela F Mastromonaco Janice E Rowell John Blake Sylvia L Checkley Susan Kutz |
author_sort |
Juliette Di Francesco |
title |
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
title_short |
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
title_full |
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
title_fullStr |
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus). |
title_sort |
fecal glucocorticoid metabolites reflect hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity in muskoxen (ovibos moschatus). |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/article/66b926ec07044c1a9c25218e30a94dbb |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic ovibos moschatus |
genre_facet |
Arctic ovibos moschatus |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 16, Iss 4, p e0249281 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 https://doaj.org/article/66b926ec07044c1a9c25218e30a94dbb |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249281 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
e0249281 |
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