Use of blubber levels of progesterone to determine pregnancy in free-ranging live cetaceans

Pérez, Sergi; García-López, Ángel; Stephanis, Renaud de; Giménez, Joan; García-Tiscar, Susana; Verborgh, Philippe; Mancera, Juan Miguel; Martı́nez-Rodrı́guez, Gonzalo

doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1676-9

Cited by 46 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, the mean levels in the pregnant females were among the highest ever recorded in any cetacean, which created a separation of several orders of magnitude between pregnant and non-pregnant/immature females. This large separation is consistent with previous findings (Mansour et al 2002, Kellar et al 2006, Pérez et al 2011) and suggests that blubber progesterone is useful for identifying pregnant females. However, what is unique in our results compared to these earlier studies is the significant difference in blubber progesterone concentrations between mature non-pregnant females and immature ones.…”

Section: Blubber Progesteronesupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Most of the measured blubber progesterone levels, like those found in the serum, were similar to levels seen in other cetaceans (Mansour et al 2002, Kellar et al 2006, Pérez et al 2011). However, the mean levels in the pregnant females were among the highest ever recorded in any cetacean, which created a separation of several orders of magnitude between pregnant and non-pregnant/immature females.…”

Section: Blubber Progesteronesupporting

confidence: 82%

“…They are the biological samples most frequently collected from freeranging cetaceans and are often obtained in numbers suitable for estimates of population-level demographic parameters. Recently, a number of studies have begun measuring steroid hormones from blubber tissue in efforts to glean additional biological information from these samples (Kellar et al 2006, 2009, Amaral 2010, Pérez et al 2011. In particular, progesterone, the hormone responsible for sustaining gestation, found in blubber samples has been empirically accurate at differentiating/diagnosing pregnancy state (Mansour et al 2002, Kellar et al 2006, Pérez et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation of bowhead whale progesterone concentrations across demographic groups and sample matrices

Kellar

Keliher²,

Trego³

et al. 2013

Endang. Species. Res.

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Bowhead whale Balaena mysticetus progesterone concentrations were measured in different sample matrices (serum, blubber, and urine) to investigate (1) concordance among sample type and (2) variation among life-history class. Samples were collected from subsistencehunted whales (n = 86) taken from 1999 to 2009. In general, irrespective of sample matrix, pregnant females had the highest concentrations by orders of magnitude, followed by mature animals of both sexes, and subadults had the lowest concentrations. Subadult males and females had similar progesterone concentrations in all sample matrices measured. When pregnant animals were included in our analyses, permuted regression models indicated a strong positive relationship between serum and blubber progesterone levels (r 2 = 0.894, p = 0.0002). When pregnant animals were not included, we found no significant relationship between serum and blubber levels (r 2 = 0.025, p = 0.224). These results suggest that progesterone concentrations are mirrored in these sample types over longer periods (i.e. on the order of weeks to months, time frame of reproductive changes) but not shorter periods (i.e. on the order of hours to days, time frame of daily fluctuations). This conclusion is consistent even for progesterone concentrations measured in females that had recently changed pregnancy states (either new mothers or newly pregnant animals), for which blubber progesterone levels seem to lag those in the serum. Finally, urine progesterone had statistically significant positive relationships with serum (r 2 = 0.136, p = 0.0460) and blubber progesterone (r 2 = 0.150, p = 0.0421). Our results suggest that progesterone concentrations first peak in the serum, then in the urine, and finally in the blubber.

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Section: Blubber Progesteronesupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Blubber Progesteronesupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variation of bowhead whale progesterone concentrations across demographic groups and sample matrices

Kellar

Keliher²,

Trego³

et al. 2013

Endang. Species. Res.

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“…Briefly, a veterinarian excised a small (~4 × 3 cm) wedge of epidermis and blubber tissue from a region approximately 10 cm below and 10 cm behind the caudal insertion of the dorsal fin. From this sample, blubber progesterone and blubber cortisol were measured using previously established methods (Kellar et al 2006, 2013b, Pérez et al 2011, Trana et al 2016.…”

Section: Ultrasound Pregnancy Evaluations and Capture-release Health mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pregnancy determination was based on progesterone concentration, i.e. the mass of progesterone as a fraction of blubber mass (ng g −1 ), using techniques that have been validated for and implemented across numerous cetacean species including bottlenose dolphins (Mansour et al 2002, Kellar et al 2006, 2013a,b, 2014, Pérez et al 2011, Trego et al 2013. Blubber progesterone concentrations were determined as described previously (Trego et al 2013).…”

Section: Blubber Endocrine Evaluations Of Dart Biopsiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low reproductive success rates of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the northern Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010-2015)

Kellar¹,

Speakman²,

Smith³

et al. 2017

Endang. Species. Res.

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Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, reproductive success rates in 2 northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) bottlenose dolphin stocks exposed to oil were evaluated for 4 yr during and after the spill (2010 to 2015) in efforts to assess population-level reproductive health. Pregnancy was determined from either (1) ultrasound examinations of the reproductive tract during capture-release health assessments, or (2) endocrine evaluations of blubber tissue collected from dart biopsies of free-ranging dolphins. Follow-up photo-identification was then used to track the status of pregnant females and any associated neonatal calves for a minimum of 1 yr after the initial pregnancy detection (IPD). For all pregnant females observed following IPD, individuals seen with a calf (reproductive success) and without one (reproductive failure) were recorded. The resulting estimated reproductive success rates for both GoM stocks (19.4%; 7/36) were less than a third of those previously reported in other areas not impacted by the spill (i.e. Sarasota Bay, FL; Indian River Lagoon, FL; and Charleston Harbor, SC) using similar techniques (64.7%; 22/34). We also evaluated the relationships between reproductive success and 13 potential covariates, including stock, ordinal date, progesterone, cortisol, thyroid hormone concentrations, leukocyte count, lung health score, and total body length. Among these, the results only provide strong evidence (Bayes factor > 20) of a relationship between reproductive failure and the total leukocyte count covariate. The high reproductive failure rates measured in both GoM stocks following the DWH oil spill are consistent with mammalian literature that shows a link between petroleum exposure and reproductive abnormalities and failures.

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Nanospray liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis of steroids from gray whale blubber

Hayden

Bhawal

Escobedo

et al. 2017

Rapid Comm Mass Spectrometry

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RATIONALE: Analysis of steroids from precious blubber biopsies obtained from marine mammals, especially endangered species, can provide valuable information on their endocrine status. Challenges with currently used ELISA methodology include lack of absolute quantitation and incompatibility with multiple steroids analysis due to limited biopsy mass. Development of a sensitive, accurate analytical method for this purpose is critical. METHODS: A nanospray liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC/MS/MS) method was validated for sensitive, specific and quantitative analysis of three steroid hormones, without derivatization, extracted from 50 mg blubber samples. Data was acquired with an LTQ XL ion trap mass spectrometer in positive ion mode, using single reaction monitoring. All three steroids were analyzed in a single run. Cholic acid was used as a surrogate internal standard for quantitation due to its steroidal structure and lack of measurable endogenous levels in blubber. RESULTS: The lowest limits of quantitation for progesterone, testosterone, and hydrocortisone were significantly improved compared to previous studies using conventional LC/MS/MS. The lowest limit of detection was 7 fg/μL using a 1 μL injection volume. Calibration curves for steroid quantification showed good linearity (r 2 >0.99) between 14 and 3620 fg/μL, and accuracy was <20% for interday and <10% for intraday. After validation, the method was successfully applied to quantification of steroids in gray whale blubber samples. CONCLUSIONS: The nanoLC/MS/MS method is more sensitive than traditional LC/MS/MS for steroid analysis. It is also compatible with other important biopsy analyses due to its small blubber mass requirement. This will benefit the reproductive and stress assessments for all marine mammals, particularly endangered populations.

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Use of blubber levels of progesterone to determine pregnancy in free-ranging live cetaceans

Cited by 46 publications

References 22 publications

Variation of bowhead whale progesterone concentrations across demographic groups and sample matrices

Variation of bowhead whale progesterone concentrations across demographic groups and sample matrices

Low reproductive success rates of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in the northern Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon disaster (2010-2015)

Nanospray liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry analysis of steroids from gray whale blubber

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