TLDR Hair cortisol analysis is a reliable tool for monitoring long-term stress in captive chimpanzees if certain variables are controlled.
The study on 72 captive chimpanzees found that hair cortisol levels were stable across different measurement protocols, making it a reliable tool for monitoring long-term stress. It determined that at least 5 mg of hair was needed for accurate measurement, with 10 mg being preferable. Factors such as grinding fineness, extraction time, body part, and hair color affected cortisol concentrations, while storage, drying, and consistent sampling locations did not. Hair from the side of the body and white hair showed higher cortisol levels. The study concluded that hair cortisol analysis could be effectively used in various laboratory settings to understand stress-related issues in captive animals, provided that variables causing variations are controlled.
501 citations
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October 2008 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol levels can show increased stress during late pregnancy but only for up to six months.
199 citations
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July 2007 in “General and Comparative Endocrinology” Hair cortisol can reliably indicate chronic stress in cats and dogs.
May 2023 in “Animal Reproduction Update” High levels of cortisol in hair show long-term stress which can lower fertility in animals.
5 citations
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January 2021 in “PeerJ” Elephant tail-hair can show past stress levels, matching times when stressful events happened.
November 2024 in “Frontiers in Endocrinology” Hair analysis can help diagnose adrenal disorders non-invasively.
April 2023 in “Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine” The document concludes that inflammation markers can be used in diabetes, vitamin D3 affects immune pathways, hyperthyroidism changes hormone levels, androgen levels help diagnose Adrenocortical Carcinoma, erectile dysfunction is linked to diabetes, hypogonadism is common in HIV-infected males, and hormones can be biomarkers for various conditions.
7 citations
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May 2021 in “General and comparative endocrinology” Muskoxen's qiviut cortisol levels indicate their stress hormone activity over the hair growth period.
