Abstract
ELISA with antibodies to corticosterone was used to evaluate the possibility of estimating the level of adrenocortical activity in male bank voles, Myodes glareolus (Rodentia, Cricetidae), by determining the concentration of immunoreactive steroids (IRS) in their feces. The binding curves of dilutions of the corticosterone standard and the extracts from dried feces were shown to be parallel. The corticosteroid response was evoked by ACTH injection, blood sampling, or immobilization. The response to ACTH injection was highly significant both in the blood in and fecal samples (a delayed response after 4 h), with daily variation in the IRS level being insignificant. In the case of blood sampling, the increased level of fecal IRS was recorded after 4 h and remained high after 8 h. Immobilization did not result in any significant increase in blood corticosterone or fecal IRS level. Individual baseline concentrations of fecal IRS levels were found to be highly repeatable between days. Thus, the antibodies to corticosterone used in this study (IZW, Berlin, Germany) proved effective for the assessment of stress by measuring fecal IRS in bank voles.
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Original Russian Text © K.A. Rogovin, S.V. Naidenko, 2010, published in Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 2010, No. 11, pp. 1380–1386.
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Rogovin, K.A., Naidenko, S.V. Noninvasive assessment of stress in bank voles (Myodes glareolus, Cricetidae, Rodentia) by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 37, 959–964 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359010090098
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359010090098