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What can we learn from the hair of the dog? Complex effects of endogenous and exogenous stressors on canine hair cortisol.


ABSTRACT: Hair is an emerging biological matrix in which to measure chronic HPA axis activity, offering a longer term view into an animal's life. We explored effects of exogenous (e.g. lifestyle, medications, social environment) and endogenous (e.g. disease, behaviour) stressors on hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in a population of Border Collies (BCs). Owners of BCs were recruited and reported their dog's lifestyle, clinical history, anxiety-related behaviour, and collected a white hair sample from their dog's dorsal neck region. HCC was determined using established methods with a commercial cortisol assay kit. Samples from 135 BCs were analysed, with 91 healthy controls and 44 diagnosed with epilepsy as a model disease. Factors associated with higher HCC included psychosocial stressors (living with three or more other dogs) and lifestyle (engaging in competitive flyball); while factors associated with lower HCC included anxiety (stranger-directed and non-social), health (epilepsy diagnosis, with number of seizures to date negatively correlated with HCC) and medication (certain anti-epileptic drugs were associated with elevated or reduced HCC). These novel results highlight the potential of chronic stress with frequent or persisting HPA-axis hyperactivity leading to a state of hypocortisolism, and the need to consider stressor recency and recurrence when interpreting HCC data.

SUBMITTER: Packer RMA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6530888 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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What can we learn from the hair of the dog? Complex effects of endogenous and exogenous stressors on canine hair cortisol.

Packer Rowena M A RMA   Davies Alexander M AM   Volk Holger A HA   Puckett Holly L HL   Hobbs Sarah L SL   Fowkes Robert C RC  

PloS one 20190522 5


Hair is an emerging biological matrix in which to measure chronic HPA axis activity, offering a longer term view into an animal's life. We explored effects of exogenous (e.g. lifestyle, medications, social environment) and endogenous (e.g. disease, behaviour) stressors on hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in a population of Border Collies (BCs). Owners of BCs were recruited and reported their dog's lifestyle, clinical history, anxiety-related behaviour, and collected a white hair sample from the  ...[more]

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