Seasonal variation in harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) blubber cortisol - A novel indicator of physiological state?

ABSTRACT: Cortisol is one of the main glucocorticoid hormones involved in both the mammalian stress response, and in fat metabolism and energy regulation, making it of increasing interest as a biomarker for stress, health and overall physiological state. However, transient stress responses to animal handling and sampling may be important sources of measurement artefact when investigating circulating concentrations of this hormone in wildlife. Here, cortisol concentrations were measured in the plasma and, for the first time, in the blubber of live captured adult harbour seals (Phoca vitulina). Plasma cortisol concentrations were positively correlated with capture time, suggesting that they were largely driven by a stress response to the capture event. In contrast, blubber cortisol concentrations were

SUBMITTER: Kershaw JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4764809 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature