Urinary suPAR: a non-invasive biomarker of infection and tissue inflammation for use in studies of large free-ranging mammals.

ABSTRACT: Studies of large free-ranging mammals incorporating physiological measurements typically require the collection of urine or faecal samples, due to ethical and practical concerns over trapping or darting animals. However, there is a dearth of validated biomarkers of immune activation and inflammation that can be measured non-invasively. We here evaluate the utility of urinary measurements of the soluble form of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR), for use as a health marker in studies of wild large mammals. We investigate how urinary suPAR concentrations change in response to viral infection and surgical trauma (inflammation), comparing it to the measurement of a marker of cellular immune activation, urinary neopterin (uNEO), in captive rhesus macaques. We then test the fie

SUBMITTER: Higham JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7062102 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature