Measurement of testosterone and cortisol metabolites and luteinising hormone in captive southern hairy-nosed wombat (Lasiorhinus latifrons) urine

- This study validated an urinary testosterone and cortisol EIA for southern hairy-nosed wombats.
- Urinary LH changes in male SHNWs could not be detected by the LH EIA.
- Sex-related differences in cortisol secretion were found in captive SHNWs.

This study reports the validation and use of enzyme immunoassays (EIA) to measure changes in plasma and urinary luteinizing hormone, testosterone metabolites (UTM) and cortisol metabolites (UCM) in captive southern hairy-nosed wombats (Lasiorhinus latifrons). GnRH agonist and ACTH agonist challenges were conducted to validate urinary testosterone (male wombat only) and cortisol (male and female wombats) EIAs. Following intra-muscular injection of 8-12 μg buserelin (n = 4 males), there was a significant increase in both plasma (P < 0.001) and urinary testosterone concentrations (P < 0.001) 60 min and 21 h after administration, respectively. Plasma LH levels were elevated (p < 0.05) at 20 min but there was no significant increase found in urinary LH concentrations after injection. Intra-muscular injection of Synacthen® Depot (250 μg) (n = 3 males, 3 females) resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.05) in plasma cortisol secretion 15 min and in urinary cortisol concentrations 3 h post injection, respectively. Sex-related differences in cortisol secretion were also reported in this study. These findings indicate that (1) urinary LH might not be an appropriate index for describing the reproductive status in captive male L. latifrons, and (2) the UTM and UCM assays appear to be suitable for the assessment of the testicular steroidogenic capacity and the adrenocortical activity in captive southern hairy-nosed wombats, respectively.