Qiviut cortisol is associated with metrics of health and other intrinsic and extrinsic factors in wild muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus).

ABSTRACT: Glucocorticoid (GC) levels are increasingly and widely used as biomarkers of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity to study the effects of environmental changes and other perturbations on wildlife individuals and populations. However, identifying the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence GC levels is a key step in endocrinology studies to ensure accurate interpretation of GC responses. In muskoxen, qiviut (fine woolly undercoat hair) cortisol concentration is an integrative biomarker of HPA axis activity over the course of the hair's growth. We gathered data from 219 wild muskoxen harvested in the Canadian Arctic between October 2015 and May 2019. We examined the relationship between qiviut cortisol and various intrinsic (sex, age, body condition and incisor breakage)

SUBMITTER: Di Francesco J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9040286 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature