Non-Invasive Monitoring of Adrenocortical Activity in a Fossorial Amphisbaenian

We validated a technique to quantify GC levels of the North West African checkboard amphisbaenian Trogonophis wiegmanni. The main purpose was to optimize and validate the suitability of an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for non-invasively monitoring adrenocortical activity, through measuring fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM). We first made a controlled experimental stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis via a corticosterone supplementation and examined whether challenged individuals increased FCM levels more than control ones. Then, we used the validated assay for a preliminary exploration of seasonal, sex and size related differences in FCM levels in the field in an island population of this amphisbaenian.本研究验证了一项用于量化西北非棋盘双足蚓蜥（Trogonophis wiegmanni）糖皮质激素（glucocorticoids，GC）水平的技术。本研究的核心目的为优化并验证酶免疫测定法（enzyme immunoassay，EIA）的适用性，该方法可通过检测粪便皮质酮代谢物（fecal corticosterone metabolites，FCM）实现肾上腺皮质活性的无创监测。研究首先通过皮质酮补充处理，对下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴（hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis，HPA轴）开展控制性实验刺激，并检验经应激处理的个体其FCM水平是否较对照组个体升高更为显著。随后，本研究利用已验证的测定方法，针对该蚓蜥的一个岛屿种群开展野外初步探索，分析其FCM水平在季节、性别及体型维度上的相关差异。