Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling
We examined the cortisol responses to chemical and physical restraint stress in southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina females and their pups at three stages during lactation. In anaesthetised females the serum cortisol levels changed moderately during the 45-min sampling period following restraint...
Published in: | Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology |
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ftuniveastangl:oai:ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk:50799 2023-05-15T16:05:14+02:00 Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling Engelhard, G.H. Brasseur, S.M.J.M. Hall, A.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. 2002-01-01 https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/50799/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 unknown Engelhard, G.H., Brasseur, S.M.J.M., Hall, A.J., Burton, H.R. and Reijnders, P.J.H. (2002) Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 172 (4). pp. 315-328. ISSN 0174-1578 doi:10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 Article PeerReviewed 2002 ftuniveastangl https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 2023-01-30T21:39:37Z We examined the cortisol responses to chemical and physical restraint stress in southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina females and their pups at three stages during lactation. In anaesthetised females the serum cortisol levels changed moderately during the 45-min sampling period following restraint, with average peaks at 23 min after anaesthetic administration. Overall, cortisol was relatively low 2 days postpartum and increased throughout lactation. In physically restrained pups serum cortisol increased rapidly after capture; the response was milder at age 2 days than at 11 days and 21 days. Levels were higher in female pups than in males. In order to test whether cortisol levels and/or responses became chronically (i.e. days to weeks) altered due to restraint, we compared the cortisol response at a late stage of lactation between three groups of mother-pup pairs previously given different levels of chemical (mothers) or physical (pups) restraint stress: control (not handled previously), moderate treatment (previously handled twice), and high treatment (previously handled 3-4 times). Pups of the three treatment groups showed similar adrenocortical responses suggesting no chronic effect of repeated physical restraint, despite the clear acute effects. Mothers of the control and moderate treatment groups showed similar cortisol responses; however, mothers of the high treatment group showed significantly attenuated responses. This indicated that elephant seals tolerated moderate degrees of handling disturbance; however, repeated (3-4) chemical immobilisations in lactating females may reduce their adrenocortical responsiveness for a period of days or weeks. Article in Journal/Newspaper Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology 172 4 315 328 |
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University of East Anglia: UEA Digital Repository |
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ftuniveastangl |
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description |
We examined the cortisol responses to chemical and physical restraint stress in southern elephant seal Mirounga leonina females and their pups at three stages during lactation. In anaesthetised females the serum cortisol levels changed moderately during the 45-min sampling period following restraint, with average peaks at 23 min after anaesthetic administration. Overall, cortisol was relatively low 2 days postpartum and increased throughout lactation. In physically restrained pups serum cortisol increased rapidly after capture; the response was milder at age 2 days than at 11 days and 21 days. Levels were higher in female pups than in males. In order to test whether cortisol levels and/or responses became chronically (i.e. days to weeks) altered due to restraint, we compared the cortisol response at a late stage of lactation between three groups of mother-pup pairs previously given different levels of chemical (mothers) or physical (pups) restraint stress: control (not handled previously), moderate treatment (previously handled twice), and high treatment (previously handled 3-4 times). Pups of the three treatment groups showed similar adrenocortical responses suggesting no chronic effect of repeated physical restraint, despite the clear acute effects. Mothers of the control and moderate treatment groups showed similar cortisol responses; however, mothers of the high treatment group showed significantly attenuated responses. This indicated that elephant seals tolerated moderate degrees of handling disturbance; however, repeated (3-4) chemical immobilisations in lactating females may reduce their adrenocortical responsiveness for a period of days or weeks. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Engelhard, G.H. Brasseur, S.M.J.M. Hall, A.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. |
spellingShingle |
Engelhard, G.H. Brasseur, S.M.J.M. Hall, A.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
author_facet |
Engelhard, G.H. Brasseur, S.M.J.M. Hall, A.J. Burton, H.R. Reijnders, P.J.H. |
author_sort |
Engelhard, G.H. |
title |
Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
title_short |
Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
title_full |
Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
title_fullStr |
Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
title_sort |
adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/50799/ https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Mirounga leonina Southern Elephant Seal |
op_relation |
Engelhard, G.H., Brasseur, S.M.J.M., Hall, A.J., Burton, H.R. and Reijnders, P.J.H. (2002) Adrenocortical responsiveness in southern elephant seal mothers and pups during lactation and the effect of scientific handling. Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology, 172 (4). pp. 315-328. ISSN 0174-1578 doi:10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-002-0257-0 |
container_title |
Journal of Comparative Physiology B: Biochemical, Systemic, and Environmental Physiology |
container_volume |
172 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
315 |
op_container_end_page |
328 |
_version_ |
1766401136732930048 |