Jones Susan M, Bell Karyn
School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 5, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia.
Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2004 Jan;137(1):105-13. doi: 10.1016/s1095-6433(03)00267-8.
This study examined adrenal and gonadal responses to capture and to longer term captivity in males of the scincid lizard, Egernia whitii. Animals subjected to acute capture stress in the field exhibited a rapid rise in plasma corticosterone concentrations that had not attenuated by 4 h after capture; plasma testosterone concentrations decreased significantly over this period. Animals returned to captive conditions in the laboratory showed little change in plasma corticosterone concentrations by 1 week, but concentrations were significantly lower at 4 weeks. Plasma testosterone did not vary significantly during this period. Sampling over a diel period indicated that plasma corticosterone concentrations vary little over the daylight hours; however, there was a significant decrease between the samples taken at 17:00 h and 21:00 h. These results suggest that, as in other species, the acute adrenal response to capture stress may confound assessment of other physiological parameters, although if experiments are carried out during daylight hours, time of sampling should have little influence on plasma corticosterone concentrations. The results also suggest that males of E. whitii require at least a week to adapt to captivity, although further studies investigating different captive conditions are warranted for this social species.
本研究考察了白氏石龙子（Egernia whitii）雄性个体在被捕获及长期圈养情况下肾上腺和性腺的反应。在野外遭受急性捕获应激的动物，其血浆皮质酮浓度迅速升高，捕获后4小时仍未减弱；在此期间，血浆睾酮浓度显著下降。回到实验室圈养环境的动物，1周时血浆皮质酮浓度变化不大，但4周时浓度显著降低。在此期间，血浆睾酮无显著变化。在一个昼夜周期内进行采样表明，白天血浆皮质酮浓度变化不大；然而，17:00和21:00采集的样本之间有显著下降。这些结果表明，与其他物种一样，对捕获应激的急性肾上腺反应可能会混淆对其他生理参数的评估，不过如果在白天进行实验，采样时间对血浆皮质酮浓度影响不大。结果还表明，白氏石龙子雄性个体至少需要一周时间来适应圈养环境，尽管对于这种群居物种，有必要进一步研究不同的圈养条件。
