Abstract
In wild animal species, the use of non-invasive and non-stressful procedures to determine hormone profiles, such as fecal steroid measurements, has considerably increased the comprehension of their reproductive physiology. Since there is limited information related to the reproductive hormone profiles of the two-toed sloth, Choloepus hoffmani, a study was conducted in captive specimens at the “Sloth Sanctuary” (Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica), in order to determine: (i) the reliability of the fecal progesterone and estrogen extraction and its quantification with an AIA-360® analyzer, (ii) assess blood parameters in this species and (iii) evaluate if there is a correlation between fecal and plasmatic steroids. The study was performed over a three-month period, from November, 2013 to January, 2014, with a total amount of 208 fecal samples collected from five sexually mature females weighing 6.32 Kg in average. The average of the median concentrations of progesterone in feces of the five females was 124.21 ng/g, and 1 708.95 pg/g for estrogen. The average minimal and maximal values were 50.96 ng/g and 1 057.46 ng/g for progesterone and, 1 191.77 pg/g and 2 159.24 pg/g for estradiol. In plasma, progesterone median values were 1.26 ng/mL, showing a minimum of 0.32 ng/mL and 12.84 ng/mL as maximum values. The plasmatic estrogen levels were below the detection limit of the equipment (25 pg/mL). Although there was no strong statistical correlation between the fecal and plasmatic progesterone fluctuations, our data suggests that the plasmatic events are mostly reflected in feces two days afterwards. Also, the levels of progesterone were elevated during the first half of November and, subsequently, showed a successive and important reduction in all the females tested. Finally, our results demonstrated that fecal steroid extractions and their measurement in a AIA-360®, allowed the successful detection and represents an alternative non-invasive determination of hormone profiles in C. hoffmani.
Highlights
Reissb, Westa, & Schwarzenberger, 2002; Graham, 2004; Dias, dos-Santos, Lara, Righetto, Pinder, & Chiarello, 2007)
Our results demonstrated that fecal steroid extractions and their measurement in a AIA-360®, allowed the successful detection and represents an alternative non-invasive determination of hormone profiles in C. hoffmani
Debido a la escasa información con respecto a perfiles hormonales reproductivos del perezoso de dos dedos, Choloepus hoffmani, se realizó un estudio en hembras en cautiverio en el centro de rescate “Sloth Sanctuary” (Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica) con el fin de determinar (i) la confiabilidad de la extracción de progesterona y estradiol en heces, y su cuantificación en el analizador AIA-360®, (ii) evaluar los parámetros sanguíneos en esta especie y (iii) establecer si existe una correlación entre los esteroides plasmáticos y fecales
Summary
Selección del sitio de muestreo y de los animales: El muestreo se llevó a cabo en “Sloth Sanctuary” (9°47’57” - 9°47’58”N & 82°54’51” - 82°54’54”W) en Cahuita, Limón, Costa Rica, durante los meses de noviembre y diciembre de 2013 y enero de 2014. Observaciones generales: Las hembras seleccionadas para el seguimiento hormonal presentaron un promedio de 3.5 deposiciones con un rango de una a cinco por semana, esto representó un elevado número de muestras de heces (n = 208) durante los meses del muestreo (Cuadro 1). Hematología, química clínica y hormonas en plasma: Se analizaron un total de 56 muestras sanguíneas pertenecientes a 19 hembras C. hoffmanni, las cuales mostraron un elevado recuento plaquetario y un leucograma compuesto principalmente por linfocitos (Cuadro 2, material suplementario S2). Las cinco hembras seleccionadas para el seguimiento reproductivo mostraron concentraciones de P4 plasmática con una mediana de 1.26 ng/mL, con un mínimo de 0.3 ng/mL y 12.84 ng/mL como valor máximo; los resultados de E2 se encontraron por debajo del límite de detección del equipo empleado (Cuadro 3, material suplementario S2). De igual manera la concentración promedio de E2 en heces (E2H) fue muy CUADRO 2 Promedio y su IC 95%, mediana, valores mínimos y máximos de los resultados de hematología y química sanguínea en 19 hembras C. hoffmanni
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