Nailing it: Investigation of elephant toenails for retrospective analysis of adrenal and reproductive hormones.

ABSTRACT: Hormone monitoring of at-risk species can be valuable for evaluation of individual physiological status. Traditional non-invasive endocrine monitoring from urine and faeces typically captures only a short window in time, poorly reflecting long-term hormone fluctuations. We examined toenail trimmings collected from African (Loxodonta africana) and Asian (Elephas maximus) elephants during routine foot care, to determine if long-term hormone patterns are preserved in these slow-growing keratinized tissues. We first measured the growth rate of elephant toenails biweekly for one year, to establish the temporal delay between deposition of hormones into nail tissue (at the proximal nail bed) and collection of toenail trimmings months later (at the distal tip of the nail). In African

SUBMITTER: Rich G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11295213 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature