Suber Hannah N, Leach Jeremiah, Kaskocsak Ashley, Valencia Henry, Colette Sarah, Kendall Ronald J
Wildlife Toxicology Laboratory, Texas Tech University, 1234 Davis Dr., Lubbock, TX, 79410, USA.
Conserv Physiol. 2025 Jul 29;13(1):coaf051. doi: 10.1093/conphys/coaf051. eCollection 2025.
The northern bobwhite () is an economically and ecologically vital gamebird in North America experiencing vast population declines. With the recent validation of an enzyme immunoassay to detect corticosterone metabolites in faeces, there are many opportunities for its scientific application. Corticosterone, a key avian stress-related hormone, has many beneficial functions that support a quail's immune response, primarily by suppressing inflammation, allowing cells to function more efficiently. However, chronic levels of elevated corticosterone in Aves have been shown to cause metabolic disruption and suppressed reproduction and growth. Determining root causes of chronically elevated corticosterone levels is vital for bobwhite conservation efforts. Proposed research investigating causes of bobwhite stress includes examining the effects of pesticides, climate, disease and management strategies. However, the various methodologies exploring these relationships may result in different ways the faeces are stored and processed, especially in studies on wild bobwhite. These differences may impact research outcomes leading to incorrect conclusions. This study was conducted to determine if enzyme immunoassay results from faecal samples frozen or left in the environment before extraction of faecal corticosterone metabolites differ from those where extraction is immediate. Faeces treatments affected the corticosterone metabolite measurements differently depending on whether the faeces were from males or females, so the effects of treatments were analysed within each sex. No significant difference was found in female faecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations between the frozen and environmentally exposed faeces ( = 0.853); however, concentrations in the immediately extracted faecal corticosterone metabolites were significantly lower ( < 0.001). Male bobwhite faecal samples that were immediately frozen had significantly lower faecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations compared to environmentally exposed male samples and frozen female samples ( = 0.039). These results indicate that faecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations are comparable between environmentally exposed samples from both sexes and frozen samples from females.
北部白喉鹑（Colinus virginianus）是北美一种在经济和生态方面都至关重要的猎鸟，其种群数量正在急剧下降。随着最近一种用于检测粪便中皮质酮代谢物的酶免疫测定法得到验证，该方法有许多科学应用的机会。皮质酮是一种与鸟类应激相关的关键激素，具有许多有益功能，主要通过抑制炎症来支持鹌鹑的免疫反应，使细胞能更高效地发挥功能。然而，鸟类体内长期高水平的皮质酮已被证明会导致代谢紊乱以及繁殖和生长受到抑制。确定皮质酮水平长期升高的根本原因对于白喉鹑的保护工作至关重要。拟开展的关于白喉鹑应激原因的研究包括考察农药、气候、疾病和管理策略的影响。然而，探索这些关系的各种方法可能会导致粪便储存和处理方式的不同，尤其是在对野生白喉鹑的研究中。这些差异可能会影响研究结果，导致得出错误结论。本研究旨在确定在提取粪便皮质酮代谢物之前，冷冻或置于环境中的粪便样本的酶免疫测定结果是否与立即提取的样本不同。粪便处理对皮质酮代谢物测量结果的影响因粪便来自雄性还是雌性而有所不同，因此在每个性别内部分析处理的影响。在冷冻粪便和置于环境中的粪便之间，雌性粪便皮质酮代谢物浓度未发现显著差异（P = 0.853）；然而，立即提取的粪便皮质酮代谢物浓度显著更低（P < 0.001）。与置于环境中的雄性样本和冷冻的雌性样本相比，立即冷冻的雄性白喉鹑粪便样本的粪便皮质酮代谢物浓度显著更低（P = 0.039）。这些结果表明，两性置于环境中的样本和雌性冷冻样本之间的粪便皮质酮代谢物浓度具有可比性。
