Measuring urinary cortisol and testosterone levels in male Barbary macaques: A comparison of EIA and LC-MS

The development of methods to quantify hormones from non-invasively collected samples such as urine or feces has facilitated endocrinology research on wild-living animals. To ensure that hormone measurements are biologically meaningful, method validations are highly recommended for each new species or sample matrix. Our aim was to validate three commonly used enzyme immunoassays (EIA), one for analysis of cortisol and two for analysis of testosterone, to assess adrenocortical and gonadal activity, respectively, from the urine of male Barbary macaques. We compared EIA and liquid chromatography--mass spectrometry (LC-MS) results to determine if the EIA measurements truly reflect levels of the target hormone and to determine if cross-reactivities with other steroids were potentially confounding results. Furthermore, we conducted a biological validation of testosterone to ensure that both EIA and LC-MS were able to capture physiologically meaningful differences in hormone levels. We found that cortisol measured by EIA correlated strongly with cortisol measured by LC-MS in both adult and immature males, without the need for deconjugation of steroids in the urine. Both testosterone EIAs correlated strongly with LC-MS in adult males, but only if steroids in the urine were deconjugated by enzymatic hydrolysis prior to analysis. However, in immature males, EIA and LC-MS results did not correlate significantly. Further correlation analyses suggest this is likely due to cross-reactivity of the testosterone antibody with other adrenal steroids such as cortisol, DHEA, and likely others, which are present at much higher concentrations relative to testosterone in immature males. Testosterone levels were significantly higher in adult compared to immature males as measured by LC-MS but not as measured by EIA. Taken together, our results suggest that the testosterone EIAs are suitable to assess gonadal activity in adult but not immature males, and only if a hydrolysis of the urine is conducted prior to analysis.

Serotonergic and catecholaminergic (dopaminergic) oscillations in the reproductive regulation of Japanese quail

Specific temporal phase relation of serotonergic and dopaminergic oscillations alters reproductive responses in many species. Aim of the study was to confirm whether effect of serotonergic drug (5-HTP) and dopaminergic drug (L-DOPA) is due to their conversion into serotonin and dopamine respectively or other products. For this study, PCPA (p-chlorophenylalanine, a long lasting inhibitor of serotonin synthesis), DDC (Diethyldithiocarbamate, which inhibits biosynthesis of nor-adrenaline), α-MT (Methyl-p-tyrosine, an inhibitor for the conversion of tyrosine to DOPA) and DOPS (Dihydroxyphenylserine, a specific precursor for noradrenaline) were used in different groups in addition to 5-HTP and L-DOPA given at specific time interval. Reproductive responses monitored at 10 weeks post treatment indicate that gonadal activity was significantly low in HTP:DOPA (8-hr quail), HTP+PCPA:DOPA and HTP:DOPA+DDC quail compare to control (S:S). However, gonadal activity of HTP:S(HTP control), S:DOPA(DOPA control) and HTP: α-MT+DOPS was not different from S:S control and remained in active condition. These findings indicate that it is not the dose of neurotransmitter precursor drugs (5-HTP and L-DOPA) and the neurotransmitters (serotonin and dopamine itself) that cause the effect, instead it is the function of interval between the drug administration which induces or entrains specific phase relation between serotonergic and dopaminergic oscillations. Further, gonadal suppression observed in HTP:DOPA, HTP+PCPA:DOPA and HTP:DOPA+DDC group three groups is not due to injection of 5-HTP or L-DOPA (alone) but due to conversion of administered 5-HTP into serotonin and conversion of L-DOPA (administered) into dopamine; not due to their further conversion into catecholamines other than dopamine i.e. noradrenaline or adrenaline.