TY - JOUR
T1 - Multiple steroid and thyroid hormones detected in baleen from eight whale species
AU - Hunt, Kathleen E.
AU - Lysiak, Nadine S.
AU - Robbins, Jooke
AU - Moore, Michael J.
AU - Seton, Rosemary E.
AU - Torres, Leigh
AU - Loren Buck, C.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are very grateful to the many individuals and institutions who have assisted with stranding responses, necropsy and sample archiving over the years, including the National Marine Fisheries Service of the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, the Virginia Aquarium, the Cape Cod Stranding Network, the New England Aquarium, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, all other cooperating stranding network members, Scott Landry, Jim Rice and Jenn Tackaberry. We are also grateful to Tad Theimer (Northern Arizona University) and Jordan Berson (New Bedford Whaling Museum) for access to rare historic specimens, as well as Danielle Dillon (Northern Arizona University) and Russell Hart (Arbor Assays) for invaluable laboratory assistance and advice. Baleen was collected under NOAA stranding authorizations to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Allied Whale/College of the Atlantic, the Center for Coastal Studies, the New England Aquarium and Oregon State University; endangered species were studied under National Marine Fisheries Service ESA Section 10 Permits #1557-03 and #15672; baleen sampling in 2016 and 2017 occurred under a NOAA marine mammal parts authorization to K. Hunt. This work was supported by (1) the Center for Bioengineering Innovation at Northern Arizona University and (2) the New England Aquarium.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by (1) the Center for Bioengineering Innovation at Northern Arizona University and (2) the New England Aquarium.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press and the Society for Experimental Biology.
PY - 2017/3/1
Y1 - 2017/3/1
N2 - Recent studies have demonstrated that some hormones are present in baleen powder from bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) and North Atlantic right (Eubalaena glacialis) whales. To test the potential generalizability of this technique for studies of stress and reproduction in large whales, we sought to determine whether all major classes of steroid and thyroid hormones are detectable in baleen, and whether these hormones are detectable in other mysticetes. Powdered baleen samples were recovered from single specimens of North Atlantic right, bowhead, blue (Balaenoptera [B.] musculus), sei (B. borealis), minke (B. acutorostrata), fin (B. physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and gray (Eschrichtius robustus) whales. Hormones were extracted with a methanol vortex method, after which we tested all species with commercial enzyme immunoassays (EIAs, Arbor Assays) for progesterone, testosterone, 17β-estradiol, cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine, representing a wide array of steroid and thyroid hormones of interest for whale physiology research. In total, 64 parallelism tests (8 species × 8 hormones) were evaluated to verify good binding affinity of the assay antibodies to hormones in baleen. We also tested assay accuracy, although available sample volume limited this test to progesterone, testosterone and cortisol. All tested hormones were detectable in baleen powder of all species, and all assays passed parallelism and accuracy tests. Although only single individuals were tested, the consistent detectability of all hormones in all species indicates that baleen hormone analysis is likely applicable to a broad range of mysticetes, and that the EIA kits tested here perform well with baleen extract. Quantification of hormones in baleen may be a suitable technique with which to explore questions that have historically been difficult to address in large whales, including pregnancy and inter-calving interval, age of sexual maturation, timing and duration of seasonal reproductive cycles, adrenal physiology and metabolic rate.
AB - Recent studies have demonstrated that some hormones are present in baleen powder from bowhead (Balaena mysticetus) and North Atlantic right (Eubalaena glacialis) whales. To test the potential generalizability of this technique for studies of stress and reproduction in large whales, we sought to determine whether all major classes of steroid and thyroid hormones are detectable in baleen, and whether these hormones are detectable in other mysticetes. Powdered baleen samples were recovered from single specimens of North Atlantic right, bowhead, blue (Balaenoptera [B.] musculus), sei (B. borealis), minke (B. acutorostrata), fin (B. physalus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and gray (Eschrichtius robustus) whales. Hormones were extracted with a methanol vortex method, after which we tested all species with commercial enzyme immunoassays (EIAs, Arbor Assays) for progesterone, testosterone, 17β-estradiol, cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine, representing a wide array of steroid and thyroid hormones of interest for whale physiology research. In total, 64 parallelism tests (8 species × 8 hormones) were evaluated to verify good binding affinity of the assay antibodies to hormones in baleen. We also tested assay accuracy, although available sample volume limited this test to progesterone, testosterone and cortisol. All tested hormones were detectable in baleen powder of all species, and all assays passed parallelism and accuracy tests. Although only single individuals were tested, the consistent detectability of all hormones in all species indicates that baleen hormone analysis is likely applicable to a broad range of mysticetes, and that the EIA kits tested here perform well with baleen extract. Quantification of hormones in baleen may be a suitable technique with which to explore questions that have historically been difficult to address in large whales, including pregnancy and inter-calving interval, age of sexual maturation, timing and duration of seasonal reproductive cycles, adrenal physiology and metabolic rate.
KW - Baleen
KW - Cetaceans
KW - Hormones
KW - Marine mammals
KW - Reproduction
KW - Stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85047262884&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85047262884&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/conphys/cox061
DO - 10.1093/conphys/cox061
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85047262884
SN - 2051-1434
VL - 5
JO - Conservation Physiology
JF - Conservation Physiology
IS - 1
M1 - cox061
ER -