Tiemann Inga, Fijn Lisa B, Bagaria Marc, Langen Esther M A, van der Staay F Josef, Arndt Saskia S, Leenaars Cathalijn, Goerlich Vivian C
Faculty of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Engineering, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Division of Animals in Science and Society, Department of Population Health Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Jan 6;9:954607. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.954607. eCollection 2022.
Translating theoretical concepts of animal welfare into quantitative assessment protocols is an ongoing challenge. Glucocorticoids (GCs) are frequently used as physiological measure in welfare assessment. The interpretation of levels of GCs and especially their relation to welfare, however, is not as straightforward, questioning the informative power of GCs. The aim of this systematic mapping review was therefore to provide an overview of the relevant literature to identify global patterns in studies using GCs as proxy for the assessment of welfare of vertebrate species. Following a systematic protocol and a-priory inclusion criteria, 509 studies with 517 experiments were selected for data extraction. The outcome of the experiments was categorized based on whether the intervention significantly affected levels of GCs, and whether these effects were accompanied by changes in behavior, morphology and physiology. Additional information, such as animal species, type of intervention, experimental set up and sample type used for GC determination was extracted, as well. Given the broad scope and large variation in included experiments, meta-analyses were not performed, but outcomes are presented to encourage further, in-depth analyses of the data set. The interventions did not consistently lead to changes in GCs with respect to the original authors hypothesis. Changes in GCs were not consistently paralleled by changes in additional assessment parameter on behavior, morphology and physiology. The minority of experiment quantified GCs in less invasive sample matrices compared to blood. Interventions showed a large variability, and species such as fish were underrepresented, especially in the assessment of behavior. The inconclusive effects on GCs and additional assessment parameter urges for further validation of techniques and welfare proxies. Several conceptual and technical challenges need to be met to create standardized and robust welfare assessment protocols and to determine the role of GCs herein.
将动物福利的理论概念转化为定量评估方案是一项持续存在的挑战。糖皮质激素（GCs）经常被用作福利评估中的生理指标。然而，对GCs水平的解读，尤其是它们与福利的关系，并非那么简单直接，这对GCs的信息价值提出了质疑。因此，本系统映射综述的目的是提供相关文献的概述，以识别使用GCs作为脊椎动物福利评估指标的研究中的总体模式。按照系统方案和预先设定的纳入标准，选择了509项研究（包含517个实验）进行数据提取。根据干预措施是否显著影响GCs水平以及这些影响是否伴随着行为、形态和生理变化，对实验结果进行了分类。还提取了其他信息，如动物物种、干预类型、实验设置以及用于GC测定的样本类型。鉴于纳入实验的范围广泛且差异较大，未进行荟萃分析，但呈现了结果以鼓励对数据集进行进一步的深入分析。干预措施并未始终如一地按照原作者的假设导致GCs发生变化。GCs的变化与行为、形态和生理等其他评估参数的变化并不总是平行的。与血液相比，少数实验在侵入性较小的样本基质中对GCs进行了定量。干预措施显示出很大的变异性，鱼类等物种的代表性不足，尤其是在行为评估方面。对GCs和其他评估参数的不确定影响促使对技术和福利指标进行进一步验证。要创建标准化且可靠的福利评估方案并确定GCs在此中的作用，需要应对一些概念和技术挑战。
