Immunosensor for Assessing the Welfare of Trainee Guide Dogs.

Paul Galvin,Hannah Perkins,Marinara Marcato,Michelle Higgins,Sofia Rodrigues Teixeira

doi:10.3390/bios11090327

Abstract

Cortisol is a well established biomarker hormone that regulates many processes in the body and is widely referred to as the stress hormone. Cortisol can be used as a stress marker to allow for detection of stress levels in dogs during the training process. This test will indicate if they will handle the stress under the training or if they might be more suitable as an assistant or companion dog. An immunosensor for detection of cortisol was developed using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The sensor was characterized using chemical and topographical techniques. The sensor was calibrated and its sensitivity determined using a cortisol concentration range of 0.0005 to 50 μg/mL. The theoretical limit of detection was found to be 3.57 fg/mL. When the immunosensor was tested on canine saliva samples, cortisol was detected and measured within the relevant physiological ranges in dogs.

Highlights

Marcato, M.; Galvin, P.; Teixeira, S.R.Guide dogs have an important role as they are the eyes of their visually impaired companion
Certain dogs can deal with stressful situations better than others, and it is important for both organizations and trainers to better understand the level of stress that a guide dog is experiencing
We describe a successful label-free method for ultrasensitive cortisol detection using an electrochemical impedance immunosensor in canine saliva obtained from Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind (IGDB)

Summary

Introduction

M.; Galvin, P.; Teixeira, S.R.Guide dogs have an important role as they are the eyes of their visually impaired companion. Cortisol levels in working dogs have been found to increase as a result of their working activities [1], in addition to health conditions such as those noted above. This parameter could be useful towards informing the selection of dogs which undergo the expensive and resource consuming guide-dog training process, in order to optimize the success rate for selecting dogs appropriately. There are a number of methods and indications that can be used to assess a canine’s stress levels [8]; salivary cortisol is one of the more commonly used techniques to measure the stress levels in animals

Methods

Results

Conclusion