Development and Validation of an Enzyme Immunoassay for Fecal Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate in Japanese Macaques (Macaca fuscata)

• Published in: International journal of primatology Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 208 - 221
• Main Authors: Takeshita, Rafaela S. C., Bercovitch, Fred B., Huffman, Michael A., Kinoshita, Kodzue
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.04.2018; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adrenocorticotropic hormone; Aging; Androgens; Animal Ecology; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Anthropology; Biological markers; Biomarkers; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Chorionic gonadotropin; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate; Enzyme immunoassay; Enzymes; Evolutionary Biology; Feces; Fitness; Gonadotropins; Hormones; Human Genetics; Immunoassay; Life Sciences; Macaca fuscata; Physical fitness; Pituitary (anterior); Pregnancy; Primates; Reproductive status; Sex hormones; Steroid hormones; Steroids; Stimulation; Stress; Stresses; Sulfates; Urine; Validity; Zoology; Fecal steroids; Noninvasive monitoring; Aging hormone; Stress hormones
• ISSN: 0164-0291; 1573-8604
• DOI: 10.1007/s10764-018-0026-x

Measuring hormonal profiles is important in monitoring stress, physical fitness, and reproductive status in primates. Noninvasive methods have been used to measure several steroid hormones in primates without causing them stress. However, few studies have used feces or urine to measure dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), an important precursor of sex steroids that has been studied as a biomarker of aging, pregnancy, and stress in humans and nonhuman primates. We developed an enzyme immunoassay to detect DHEAS in the feces of Japanese macaques ( Macaca fuscata ). Our subjects included eight singly housed Japanese macaques. To validate the assay, we administrated oral DHEA to one male and one female macaque, collected their feces, and measured DHEAS levels over time. Given that DHEAS is related to gonadal steroids and the stress response, we also measured DHEAS concentrations in response to adrenal (adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH]) and gonadal (human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG]) stimulation. Our assay successfully detected DHEAS in Japanese macaque feces, and levels of DHEAS were associated with the amount of DHEA ingested. Parallelism and accuracy tests revealed that fecal extracts were reliable measures of DHEAS. Neither ACTH nor hCG challenge appeared to affect DHEAS levels. The method we describe is less expensive than that using the commercially available kits and is applicable to investigations involving aging, stress, and reproduction in Japanese macaques.