Reproductive hormones as related to age, sex, season and levels of stress hormones in the bottlenose dolphin
Abstract
A critical issue in determining the impact of Navy activities on marine mammals is the potential to affect important life history fu"nction, in particular those related to reproductive effort and success. Reproductive hormones (e.g. androgens, estrogens, and proges"togens) are responsible for regulating the complex physiological and behavioral processes associated with reproductive behavior. How"ever, the action of these hormones are themselves affected by other hormones, including those related to the stress response (e.g. c""ortisol/corticosterone). Within toothed whales (odontocetes), little information exists on baseline levels of stress and reproductiv""e hormones, how they influence one another, and how they vary as a function of season, age, sex, and reproductive status. The object"ive of the proposed study is to increase our knowledge of sex hormone variability and the interrelationship between stress hormones" and reproductive hormones in a representative delphinid, the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent a"ssays and radioimmunoassays will be performed on serum previously collected from a managed-care bottlenose dolphin population over t"he course of a year. Samples were previously analyzed for stress hormone (corticosteroids, catecholamines, thyroid hormones). Reprod""uctive hormones will be analyzed for variability as a function of season, age, sex, and reproductive status, as well as for relation"ships to circulating levels of the so-called stress hormones. Results will inform baseline variability and relationships between hormones that can be used to better understand measurements collected from wild populations of dolphins.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 07, 2017
- Source ID
- N000141712729
Entities
People
- Dorian S. Houser
Organizations
- National Marine Mammal Foundation
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy