Cargando…

A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)

Endocrine studies using faeces as hormone matrix have become increasingly popular to examine adrenocortical activity in wildlife. A prerequisite for this approach is to minimize alteration of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) composition post-defecation. This is done by freezing the collected...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Postiglione, Gabriella, Accorsi, Pier Attilio, Ganswindt, Andre, Crossey, Bruce
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8790624/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35111576
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101623
_version_ 1784640057334824960
author Postiglione, Gabriella
Accorsi, Pier Attilio
Ganswindt, Andre
Crossey, Bruce
author_facet Postiglione, Gabriella
Accorsi, Pier Attilio
Ganswindt, Andre
Crossey, Bruce
author_sort Postiglione, Gabriella
collection PubMed
description Endocrine studies using faeces as hormone matrix have become increasingly popular to examine adrenocortical activity in wildlife. A prerequisite for this approach is to minimize alteration of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) composition post-defecation. This is done by freezing the collected material as soon as possible after collection, and removing moisture from the frozen faecal samples afterwards (usually by freeze-drying). In remote areas, freeze-drying opportunities are often limited, and in the case of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), established assays revealed that fGCM concentrations remain comparable for only ∼24h post-defaecation. In the present study, three cost-effective drying treatments (exposure to sunlight, placement in a solar oven, and use of a food dehydrator) were investigated as alternatives to the golden standard of freeze-drying faeces. • In comparison to freeze-dried material, African wild dog faecal samples dried through sunlight exposure, a solar oven, and use of a food dehydrator revealed no significant differences in respective fGCM concentrations measured. • A food dehydrator would be the preferable option to dry African wild dog faeces if limited electrical supply is available. This technique dries faeces the fastest, and negates any reliance on weather conditions.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8790624
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Elsevier
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-87906242022-02-01 A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) Postiglione, Gabriella Accorsi, Pier Attilio Ganswindt, Andre Crossey, Bruce MethodsX Method Article Endocrine studies using faeces as hormone matrix have become increasingly popular to examine adrenocortical activity in wildlife. A prerequisite for this approach is to minimize alteration of faecal glucocorticoid metabolite (fGCM) composition post-defecation. This is done by freezing the collected material as soon as possible after collection, and removing moisture from the frozen faecal samples afterwards (usually by freeze-drying). In remote areas, freeze-drying opportunities are often limited, and in the case of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), established assays revealed that fGCM concentrations remain comparable for only ∼24h post-defaecation. In the present study, three cost-effective drying treatments (exposure to sunlight, placement in a solar oven, and use of a food dehydrator) were investigated as alternatives to the golden standard of freeze-drying faeces. • In comparison to freeze-dried material, African wild dog faecal samples dried through sunlight exposure, a solar oven, and use of a food dehydrator revealed no significant differences in respective fGCM concentrations measured. • A food dehydrator would be the preferable option to dry African wild dog faeces if limited electrical supply is available. This technique dries faeces the fastest, and negates any reliance on weather conditions. Elsevier 2022-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC8790624/ /pubmed/35111576 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101623 Text en © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Method Article
Postiglione, Gabriella
Accorsi, Pier Attilio
Ganswindt, Andre
Crossey, Bruce
A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title_full A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title_fullStr A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title_full_unstemmed A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title_short A field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus)
title_sort field-friendly alternative to freeze-drying faeces for glucocorticoid metabolite analyses of african wild dogs (lycaon pictus)
topic Method Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8790624/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35111576
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2022.101623
work_keys_str_mv AT postiglionegabriella afieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT accorsipierattilio afieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT ganswindtandre afieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT crosseybruce afieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT postiglionegabriella fieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT accorsipierattilio fieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT ganswindtandre fieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus
AT crosseybruce fieldfriendlyalternativetofreezedryingfaecesforglucocorticoidmetaboliteanalysesofafricanwilddogslycaonpictus