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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1448232
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Animal Welfare View all 11 articles

Non-invasive wool hormone assessment of Australian Merino Rams (Ovis aries): A pilot investigation of cortisol and testosterone

Provisionally accepted
Dylan Fox Dylan Fox Benn Wilson Benn Wilson Edward Narayan Edward Narayan *
  • The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Non-invasive hormone assessment is growing in interest as producers and livestock researchers seek new methods to assess animal welfare. Non-invasive wool assessment offers long-term, historic reflections of hormone concentration at the scale of weeks and monthsand are not limited by sampling stress -thus making wool an appropriate tissue for long-term hormone analysis. This pilot study quantified cortisol and testosterone concentrations of ram fleece and determined if there is a significant difference between segments of the sample staple, and whether there is a correlation between hormones. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid produced within the adrenal glands and secreted in anticipation of or in response to a stressor.Testosterone is an androgen mainly synthesised within the testes of males and responsible for several critical functions including regulation of muscle growth, libido and spermatogenesis.In our study, 70 topknot wool samples were collected from rams on a commercial stud property in Dirranbandi, Queensland, Australia. Of these animals, 12 samples were selected at random to undergo cortisol and testosterone quantification. In the laboratory, a single, intact staple was isolated from the total sample, divided into 10 mm segments and prepared for their respective (cortisol or testosterone) immunoassays. No significant difference (p>0.05) was found between wool segments for either cortisol or testosterone, however, statistical differences (p<0.05) were found between individuals for both hormones. A strong positive correlation (R 2 =0.9173, p <0.05) was found between wool cortisol and testosterone concentrations. In summary, this study reveals the major future possibilities for non-invasive wool hormone assessment in merino rams.

    Keywords: stress, non-invasive biomarkers, HPA axis, Fibre, Reproduction

    Received: 13 Jun 2024; Accepted: 22 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Fox, Wilson and Narayan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Edward Narayan, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.