Influence of dietary fiber on the excretion of fecal androgen metabolites in brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira)

• Grant number: 19/05571-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2019
• End date: August 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Reproduction
• Principal Investigator: José Maurício Barbanti Duarte
• Grantee: Laís Jaqueline de Souza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Endocrinology is a widely used tool for the conservation of endangered species, providing information about the physiology and reproductive status of animals through the measurement of hormones, mainly from the fecal matrix. However, several studies have shown that the precision of this method can vary according to the amount of dietary fiber in the animals, influencing the excretion of fecal metabolites. This study aims to evaluate whether dietary fiber affects the excretion of fecal androgen metabolites. To that end, four males of the species Mazama gouazoubira, housed in the Núcleo de Pesquisa e Conservação de Cervídeos, UNESP/Jaboticabal (NUPECCE), will be submitted to four treatments, distributed among the animals by the Latin square method: usual feeding provided in NUPECCE (T1); 1kg/animal/day of bulky and 500g/animal/day of banana (T2); 1.5kg/animal/day of banana (T3); 1.5 kg/animal/day of bulky (T4). Each treatment will last six days, the animals will have an adaptation period of three days, and during the next three days, feces will be collected (in the morning and afternoon, before feeding). The treatments will be carried out in sequence, with no rest time for between them. Metabolite levels will be measured using the immunoenzymatic assay, and then the concentration means will be compared between the different treatments through the execution of Student's t-test.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE SOUZA, LAFS JAQUELINE; TANAKA, YUKI; DI SANTO, LUDMILLA GERALDO; BARBANTI DUARTE, JOSE MAURFCIO. Effect of dietary fiber on fecal androgens levels: An experimental analysis in brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira). General and Comparative Endocrinology, v. 321, p. 7-pg., 2022-03-28. (19/05571-2)