Rupert Palme Veterinärmedizinische Universtät Wien Title Stress hormones in mammals and birds: Comparative aspects regarding metabolism, excretion and noninvasive measurement in fecal samples Abstract A multitude of endocrine mechanisms is involved in coping with challenges. Front-line hormones to overcome stressful situations are glucocorticoids and catecholamines. These hormones are usually determined in plasma samples as parameters of adrenal activity and thus of disturbance. Glucocorticoids (and catecholamines) are extensively metabolized and excreted afterwards. Therefore, the concentration of glucocorticoids (or their metabolites) can be measured in various body fluids or excreta. Above all, fecal samples offer the advantage that they can be easily collected and the sampling procedure is feedback-free. However, large species differences exist regarding the route and the time course of excretion as well as the types of metabolites formed. Based on information gained from radiometabolism studies, we recently developed and successfully validated different enzyme immunoassays enabling the noninvasive measurement of groups of cortisol or corticosterone metabolites in animal feces. Thus, the determination of these metabolites in fecal samples can be used as a powerful tool to monitor glucocorticoid production in various species of domestic, wildlife and laboratory animals. Biography Rupert Palme studied Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and graduated 1986. In 1988 he received his DVM. He continued his work at the Institute of Biochemistry of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna as Assistant researcher and after his habilitation (1997; Metabolism and excretion of steroid hormones in the sheep, horse and pig) as Associate professor. His current research interests focus on the development and application of non-invasive methods for measuring the secretion of stress hormones (glucocorticoids and more recently catecholamines). Selected recent publications Rettenbacher, S., Möstl, E., Hackl, R., Ghareeb, K., Palme, R. (2004): Measurement of corticosterone metabolites in chicken droppings. Brit. Poultry Sci. 45, 1-8 (in press). Touma, Ch., Palme, R., Sachser, N. (2004): Analyzing corticosterone metabolites in fecal samples of mice: a noninvasive technique to monitor stress hormones. Hormones and Behaviour 45, 10-22. Touma, C., Möstl, E., Sachser, N., Palme, R. (2003): Effect of sex and time of day on metabolism and excretion of corticosterone in urine and feces of mice. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 130, 267-278. El-Bahr, S.M., Möstl, E., Palme, R. ( 2003): Glucocorticoid metabolites inhibit the metabolism of androstenedione in red blood cells of ruminants. Journal of Veterinary Medicine A 50, 98-102. Ganswindt, A., Palme, R., Heistermann, M., Borragan, S., Hodges, J.K. ( 2003): Non-invasive assessment of adrenocortical function in the male african elephant (Loxodonta africana) and its relation to musth. General and Comparative Endocrinology 134, 156-166. Huber, S., Palme, R., Arnold, W. ( 2003): Effects of season, sex, and sample collection on concentrations of fecal cortisol metabolites in red deer (Cervus elaphus). General and Comparative Endocrinology 130, 48-54. Möstl, E., Palme, R. (2002): Hormones as indicators of stress. Dom. Anim. Endocrinol. 23, 67-74. University of Veterinary Medicine / Research Documentation