Heimbürge Susen, Kanitz Ellen, Otten Winfried
Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN), Institute of Behavioural Physiology, Wilhelm-Stahl-Allee 2, 18196 Dummerstorf, Germany.
Gen Comp Endocrinol. 2019 Jan 1;270:10-17. doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2018.09.016. Epub 2018 Oct 2.
The hair cortisol concentration (HCC) is assumed to be a retrospective marker of integrated cortisol secretion and stress over longer periods of time. Its quantification is increasingly used in psychoneuroendocrinological studies in humans, but also in animal stress and welfare research. The measurement of HCCs for the assessment of stress offers many considerable benefits for use in domesticated and wild animals, especially due to the easy and minimally invasive sampling procedure and the representation of longer time periods in one sample. This review aims to outline the different fields of application and to assess the applicability and validity of HCC as an indicator for chronic stress or long-term activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in wild and domesticated animals. Specific hair characteristics are presented and the advantages and limitations of using HCC are discussed. An overview of findings on the impact of stress- and health-related factors on HCCs and of diverse influencing factors causing variation in hair cortisol levels in different species is given. Recommendations for the use of hair cortisol analysis are proposed and potential fields of future research are pointed out. The studies indicate an effect of age and pregnancy on HCCs, and cortisol incorporation into hair was also found to depend on hair colour, body region, sex and season of year, but these results are less consistent. Furthermore, the results in animals show that a wide array of stressors and pathological conditions alters the cortisol concentrations in hair and that HCC thereby provides a reliable and valid reflection of long-term cortisol secretion in many species. However, more research is necessary to investigate the underlying mechanisms of cortisol incorporation into the hair and to explore the hair growth characteristics in the species of interest. To overcome confounding influences, the use of standardized sampling protocols is strongly advised.
头发皮质醇浓度（HCC）被认为是较长时间段内综合皮质醇分泌和应激的回顾性标志物。其定量分析在人类心理神经内分泌学研究中越来越常用，在动物应激和福利研究中也有应用。测量HCC用于评估应激在圈养动物和野生动物中具有诸多显著优势，特别是因为采样过程简便且微创，并且一个样本就能代表较长时间段。本综述旨在概述不同的应用领域，并评估HCC作为野生动物和圈养动物慢性应激或下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺轴长期活动指标的适用性和有效性。介绍了特定的毛发特征，并讨论了使用HCC的优缺点。综述了应激和健康相关因素对HCC的影响以及导致不同物种毛发皮质醇水平变化的各种影响因素。提出了使用毛发皮质醇分析的建议，并指出了未来潜在的研究领域。研究表明年龄和怀孕对HCC有影响，还发现皮质醇掺入毛发也取决于毛发颜色、身体部位、性别和年份季节，但这些结果不太一致。此外，动物研究结果表明，多种应激源和病理状况会改变毛发中的皮质醇浓度，因此HCC在许多物种中能可靠有效地反映长期皮质醇分泌情况。然而，有必要开展更多研究来探究皮质醇掺入毛发的潜在机制，并探索目标物种的毛发生长特征。为克服混杂影响，强烈建议使用标准化采样方案。
