Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32843969›Full record

ArticleConservation physiology2020

Sex steroids and glucocorticoid ratios in Iberian lynx hair.

Alexandre Azevedo, Jella Wauters, Clemens Kirschbaum, Rodrigo Serra, António Rivas, Katarina Jewgenow

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation physiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
2.1field-weighted citation impact, top 12% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as a tool for conservation.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2026
    Review
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  3. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Alexandre AzevedoDepartment Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str.17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany.
Jella WautersDepartment Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str.17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany.
Clemens KirschbaumFaculty of Psychology, Department of Biopsychology, Technical University of Dresden, Helmholtzstraße 10, D-01069 Dresden, Germany.
Rodrigo SerraNational Breeding Breeding Center for Iberian Lynxes, 8375-082 Messines, Portugal.
António RivasEl Acebuche Iberian Lynx Captive Breeding Centre-OAPN, Doñana National Park, Matalascañas, 21760 Huelva, Spain.
Katarina JewgenowDepartment Reproduction Biology, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Alfred-Kowalke-Str.17, D-10315 Berlin, Germany.
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research · DETU Dresden · DEUniversidade do Porto · PT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Knowledge on species' reproductive biology is a fundamental pre-requisite of every conservation effort, but is often lacking. Sex steroids can provide valuable information for the assessment of reproductive success, whereas glucocorticoids are used to assess adrenocortical activity and stress-related bodily adaption. However, due to their perilous condition, access to animals is often difficult, which makes hormone measurement in non-invasively collected hair samples an attractive option. We determined cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, testosterone and progesterone in Iberian lynx hair using enzyme immunoassay (EIA). Cross-validation was performed with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Finally, we statistically evaluated the variations of sex steroids and glucocorticoids according to age, sex, origin, behavior and management. All steroids except corticosterone were detectable in Iberian lynx hair. Hair progesterone measured by EIA was overestimated by cross-reaction with 5α-dihydroprogesterone, a biologically active gestagene, and was highly correlated with HPLC-MS/MS results. Progesterone was higher in adult females compared to all other age-sex groups. Cortisol measured by EIA was overestimated due to antibody cross-reactivity with cortisone and was correlated to the sum of HPLC-MS/MS measurements for cortisol and cortisone. Cortisol was higher in females than in males measured by HPLC-MS/MS, but the EIA results were confounded by the lack of specificity. When using cortisol-cortisone and cortisol-dihydroepiandrosterone ratios, differences were noted between wild-caught and captive-bred lynxes. Additionally, longitudinal EIA measurements of an Iberian lynx after a wildfire showed an inversion of the cortisol-cortisone ratio that later subsided. These results validate the use of hair progesterone measurement for Iberian lynx reproductive monitoring and add to the growing evidence supporting the need for a more comprehensive approach to hair steroid measurement that accounts for local interconversion and co-regulation mechanisms.

Indexed as

CortisolcortisoneEIAhairHPLCLC-MS/MS

Identifiers

PMID32843969
PMCPMC7439579
OpenAlexW3080851537

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.