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Analysis of hair cortisol levels in captive chimpanzees: Effect of various methods on cortisol stability and variability.

ABSTRACT: Hair cortisol has been reported to be a useful measure of long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation in several species. It serves as a practical tool for long-term stress assessment, but it is important to understand the methodological factors that can affects hair cortisol assays to avoid methodological artifacts. To that end, we tested several procedures for measuring cortisol levels in hair collected from captive chimpanzees. The results showed that reproducibility was high, and we found no differences in cortisol levels among the various storage, drying, and sampling methods. However, the fineness of homogenized hair, sample weight, and extraction time affected absolute hair cortisol concentration. Although hair cortisol levels were stable over time, factors that may influence measurement results should be kept constant throughout a study.•We modified and validated a methodology involving enzyme immunoassays to reliably measure the hair cortisol levels of captive chimpanzees.•The results revealed that the fineness of homogenized hair, sample weight, and extraction time caused variations in absolute hair cortisol concentrations in chimpanzees. In contrast, storage, drying, and sampling from similar body parts did not affect the results.

SUBMITTER: Yamanashi Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4739149 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Analysis of hair cortisol levels in captive chimpanzees: Effect of various methods on cortisol stability and variability.

Yamanashi Yumi Y Teramoto Migaku M Morimura Naruki N Hirata Satoshi S Suzuki Juri J Hayashi Misato M Kinoshita Kodzue K Murayama Miho M Idani Gen'ichi G

MethodsX 20160116

Hair cortisol has been reported to be a useful measure of long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activation in several species. It serves as a practical tool for long-term stress assessment, but it is important to understand the methodological factors that can affects hair cortisol assays to avoid methodological artifacts. To that end, we tested several procedures for measuring cortisol levels in hair collected from captive chimpanzees. The results showed that reproducibility was hi ...[more]

PMID: 26870668

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Project description:Understanding the factors associated with the long-term stress levels of captive animals is important from the view of animal welfare. In this study, we investigated the effects of relocation in addition to individual and environmental factors related to social management on long-term stress level in group-living captive chimpanzees by examining behaviors and hair cortisol (HC). Specifically, we conducted two studies. The first compared changes in HC levels before and after the relocation of 8 chimpanzees (Study 1) and the second examined the relationship between individual and environmental factors and individual HC levels in 58 chimpanzees living in Kumamoto Sanctuary (KS), Kyoto University (Study 2). We hypothesized that relocation, social situation, sex, and early rearing conditions, would affect the HC levels of captive chimpanzees. We cut arm hair from chimpanzees and extracted and assayed cortisol with an enzyme immunoassay. Aggressive behaviors were recorded ad libitum by keepers using a daily behavior monitoring sheet developed for this study. The results of Study 1 indicate that HC levels increased during the first year after relocation to the new environment and then decreased during the second year. We observed individual differences in reactions to relocation and hypothesized that social factors may mediate these changes. In Study 2, we found that the standardized rate of receiving aggression, rearing history, sex, and group formation had a significant influence on mean HC levels. Relocation status was not a significant factor, but mean HC level was positively correlated with the rate of receiving aggression. Mean HC levels were higher in males than in females, and the association between aggressive interactions and HC levels differed by sex. These results suggest that, although relocation can affect long-term stress level, individuals' experiences of aggression and sex may be more important contributors to long-term stress than relocation alone.

Project description:BackgroundCurrently, there are no objective markers to measure treatment efficacy in chronic (distressing) tinnitus. This study explores whether stress-related biomarkers cortisol and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) measured in hair samples of chronic tinnitus patients change after compact multimodal tinnitus-specific cognitive behavioral therapy.MethodsIn this longitudinal study, hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF levels, self-reported tinnitus-related distress (Tinnitus Questionnaire; TQ), and perceived stress (Perceived Stress Questionnaire; PSQ-20) were assessed before and 3 months after 5 days of treatment in N = 80 chronic tinnitus patients. Linear mixed-effects models with backward elimination were used to assess treatment-induced changes, and a cross-lagged panel model (structural equation model) was used for additional exploratory analysis of the temporal associations between TQ and hair-BDNF.ResultsAt follow-up, a reduction in TQ (p < 0.001) and PSQ-20 scores (p = 0.045) was observed, which was not influenced by baseline hair-cortisol or hair-BDNF levels. No changes in biomarker levels were observed after treatment. The exploratory analysis tentatively suggests that a directional effect of baseline TQ scores on hair-BDNF levels at follow-up (trend; p = 0.070) was more likely than the opposite directional effect of baseline hair-BDNF levels on TQ scores at follow-up (n.s.).DiscussionWhile the treatment effectively reduced tinnitus-related distress and perceived stress in chronic tinnitus patients, this effect was not mirrored in biological changes. However, the lack of changes in hair-cortisol and hair-BDNF levels might have been influenced by the treatment duration, follow-up interval, or confounding medical factors, and therefore must be interpreted with caution. The relationship between tinnitus-related distress and hair-BDNF levels should be explored further to obtain a better understanding of stress-related effects in chronic tinnitus.

Project description:BackgroundPatients with sarcoidosis often experience fatigue and psychological distress, but little is known about the etiology of these conditions. While serum and saliva steroid hormones are used to monitor acute steroid levels, scalp hair analysis is a relatively new method enabling measurement of long-term steroid levels, including hair cortisol reflecting chronic stress. We investigated whether scalp hair cortisol and testosterone levels differ between sarcoidosis patients both with and without fatigue and general population controls. Additionally, we studied if these hormones could serve as objective biomarkers for psychological distress in patients with sarcoidosis.MethodsWe measured hair steroid levels using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in glucocorticoid naïve sarcoidosis patients. Patients completed the Perceived Stress Scale, Fatigue Assessment Scale, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Short Form 36 (SF-36). Hair steroid levels from 293 participants of the population-based Lifelines cohort study served as controls.ResultsThirty-two patients (14 males) were included. Hair cortisol, but not testosterone, concentrations were significantly higher in patients with sarcoidosis than in general population controls (mean 6.6 versus 2.7 pg/mg, p<0.001). No differences were found in hair cortisol and testosterone levels between fatigued and non-fatigued patients with sarcoidosis. Hair cortisol of sarcoidosis patients correlated significantly with anxiety (r = 0.47, p = 0.01), depression (r = 0.46, p = 0.01), and SF-36 mental domain (r = -0.38, p = 0.03), but not with fatigue.ConclusionsPatients with sarcoidosis have chronically higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol than the normal population, while testosterone levels in hair did not differ. Hair cortisol levels were positively related to subjective measures of psychological distress, but not to fatigue. Our study shows that hair cortisol is a promising non-invasive biomarker for psychological distress in patients with sarcoidosis.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03108547. Registered 31 March 2017, retrospectively registered.

Dataset Information

Analysis of hair cortisol levels in captive chimpanzees: Effect of various methods on cortisol stability and variability.

Publications

Analysis of hair cortisol levels in captive chimpanzees: Effect of various methods on cortisol stability and variability.

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