Mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are endangered in British Columbia and motorized backcountry recreation has been identified as a potential threat to their persistence. My objective was to test if fecal glucocorticoids (GCs), indicative of physiological effects of ecological stress in wildlife, could be used as a non-invasive tool to quantify stress response in free-ranging caribou exposed to motorized recreation. I validated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure concentration of fecal GCs for R. tarandus using an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge experiment on captive reindeer exposed to extreme variation in winter weather. Female reindeer expressed elevated fecal GCs 9-11 hrs after ACTH injection. Males showed no detectable increase, perhaps due to underdosing. Fecal GCs varied markedly in both sexes in response to natural variation in weather. Overall, my results indicated fecal assays can be used to track biologically meaningful changes in adrenal activity in R.tarandus. I investigated the effects of motorized recreation on stress hormone production by measuring GCs in feces of mountain caribou exposed to snowmobile and heli-ski activity. Concentrations of fecal GCs in snowmobile and heli-ski areas were higher than those measured from caribou in areas where motorized recreation was not allowed. Caribou sampled up to 4km. 8km and I0 km distant from snowmobile activity showed elevated fecal GCs when compared to those sampled further from snowmobile activity areas. Other variables with a significant effect on fecal GCs included reproductive state, snow, aspect. minimum ambient temperature, and daily temperature range. My study indicates that measurement of fecal GCs provides a useful, noninvasive approach in the evaluation of physiological effects of environment, reproductive state, and human-induced stressors on free-ranging mountain caribou. Although research on many species indicates that chronically elevated GCs carry a variety of physiological costs, more study is needed to know whether GCs can be used as an index of human impact on population health or trend.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Vita. "December 2006" Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 143-152). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2009. / Title from screen (viewed on August 27, 2009). Department of Medical Neuroscience, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Joseph DiMicco. Includes vita. Non-Latin script record Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-140).

Orientador: Vânia dos Santos Nunes-Nogueira / Resumo: Introdução: Existem quatro medicações disponíveis como tratamento complementar da doença de Cushing: pasireotida, cabergolina, cetoconazol e mifepristone. Contudo, não existe um consenso sobre qual medicação é mais efetiva e segura para o controle dessa neoplasia. Objetivo: comparar a segurança e a efetividade destas quatro medicações no controle de indivíduos com doença de Cushing não curados pela cirurgia, recidivados ou que não puderam realizar esse procedimento. Metodologia: para isso foi realizada uma revisão sistemática de acordo com a metodologia da colaboração Cochrane, no qual seriam incluídos estudos randomizados das comparações destas medicações entre si e fossem avaliados como desfechos primários a remissão do hipercortisolismo por meio da normalização do cortisol livre urinário (CLU), melhora na qualidade de vida, frequência de eventos adversos, melhora das comorbidades e sintomas associadas a essa doença. Foram realizadas três estratégias de busca adaptadas as bases eletrônicas de saúde: EMBASE, PubMed e CENTRAL-Cochrane. Os estudos foram selecionados por dois revisores independentes e os dados extraídos a partir de um formulário padronizado. Resultados: Foram incluídos dez estudos randomizados, um comparando cabergolina versus cetoconazol, e nove avaliando doses diferentes do pasireotida, sendo que oito se referiam ao mesmo protocolo de estudo. A normalização do CLU em seis meses de tratamento foi inferior na cabergolina em relação ao cetoconazol (33% versus 62... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-06T23:47:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / BV UNIFESP: Teses e dissertações

Orientador: Daniel Galera Bernabé / Coorientadora: Sandra Helena Penha de Oliveira / Banca: Glauco Issamu Miyahara / Banca: Alan Roger dos Santos Silva / Resumo: Evidências mostram que os hormônios relacionados ao estresse podem influenciar a progressão do câncer, mas o papel destes mediadores sobre o processo de carcinogênese no microambiente tecidual, em condições naturais, é pouco compreendido. Neste estudo, nós utilizamos um modelo de carcinogênese bucal em ratos para testar a hipótese de que os níveis de hormônios relacionados ao estresse no microambiente tecidual em condições naturais (sem estresse) pré-indução carcinogênica influenciam a ocorrência e progressão do carcinoma espinocelular (CEC) de língua. Quarenta e oito ratos machos Wistar foram submetidos a uma biópsia de tecido lingual normal previamente à indução carcinogênica e os níveis teciduais de norepinefrina, corticosterona, ACTH e BDNF foram mensurados. Três semanas depois os animais foram tratados com o carcinógeno químico 4-nitroquinolina-1-óxido (4NQO) por 20 semanas e a ocorrência de CEC ou Leucoplasia (lesão precursora do CEC) na língua foi analisada microscopicamente. Níveis basais aumentados pré-carcinogênese de norepinefrina e BDNF e níveis reduzidos de corticosterona foram preditivos para ocorrência de CEC. Níveis basais elevados de norepinefrina foram associados à uma expressão reduzida de RNAm para CDKN2a-p16 nos CECs. Níveis teciduais de corticosterona e BDNF nas leucoplasias e corticosterona no CEC foram significativamente mais elevados em relação a mucosa normal pré-carcinogênese. Níveis elevados de norepinefrina no microambiente dos CECs foram associad... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Evidence show that stress - related hormones may influence cancer progression, but the ir role in tissue microenvironment on the carcinogenesis is poorly understood. In this study, we have used an oral carcinogenesis model in rats to test the hypothesis that stress - related hormones levels in the tissue microen vironment in natural conditio ns pre - carcinogenic induction could influence the oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) occurrence and progression . Forty - eight male Wistar rats were underwent to a normal tongue tissue biopsy before carcinogenic induction and tissue levels of norepinephrine, corticosterone, ACTH and BDNF were measured. Three weeks later the animals were treated with chemical carcinogen 4 - nitroquinoline - 1 - oxide (4NQO) for 20 weeks and the OSCC or oral leukoplakia ( non - cancerous lesions ) occurrence in to tongue was evaluated . Increased concentrations of norepinephrine and BDNF, and reduced corticosterone levels in the pre - carcinogen microenvironment were predictive for OSCC occurrence . Increased pre - carcinogen norepinephrine concentrations were associated to a CDKN2a - p16 mRNA lower expression in OSCC s. Tissue levels of corticosterone and BDNF in oral leukoplakia and corticosterone in OSCC were significantly higher than pre - carcinogenesis normal mucosa. Increased norepinephrine concentrations in OSCC microenvironment were associated to a higher tumor volume and thickness. Likewise, increased levels of norepinephrine, ACTH and BDNF in OSCC were associated to a lesser intensity of the l ymphoplasmocytic infiltrate underlying to tumor. Furthermore, IL - 6 mRNA enhanced expression was correlated to increased corticosterone levels post - carcinogenesis. This study shows the first in vivo evidence that pre - carcinogen stress hormones levels in the microenvironment of the normal tissue may be predictive ...(Complete abstract electronic access below) / Mestre

Mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are endangered in British Columbia and motorized backcountry recreation has been identified as a potential threat to their persistence. My objective was to test if fecal glucocorticoids (GCs), indicative of physiological effects of ecological stress in wildlife, could be used as a non-invasive tool to quantify stress response in free-ranging caribou exposed to motorized recreation. I validated an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to measure concentration of fecal GCs for R. tarandus using an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) challenge experiment on captive reindeer exposed to extreme variation in winter weather. Female reindeer expressed elevated fecal GCs 9-11 hrs after ACTH injection. Males showed no detectable increase, perhaps due to underdosing. Fecal GCs varied markedly in both sexes in response to natural variation in weather. Overall, my results indicated fecal assays can be used to track biologically meaningful changes in adrenal activity in R.tarandus. I investigated the effects of motorized recreation on stress hormone production by measuring GCs in feces of mountain caribou exposed to snowmobile and heli-ski activity. Concentrations of fecal GCs in snowmobile and heli-ski areas were higher than those measured from caribou in areas where motorized recreation was not allowed. Caribou sampled up to 4km. 8km and I0 km distant from snowmobile activity showed elevated fecal GCs when compared to those sampled further from snowmobile activity areas. Other variables with a significant effect on fecal GCs included reproductive state, snow, aspect. minimum ambient temperature, and daily temperature range. My study indicates that measurement of fecal GCs provides a useful, noninvasive approach in the evaluation of physiological effects of environment, reproductive state, and human-induced stressors on free-ranging mountain caribou. Although research on many species indicates that chronically elevated GCs carry a variety of physiological costs, more study is needed to know whether GCs can be used as an index of human impact on population health or trend. / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Exercise is widely recognized for its role in the health management and prevention of several chronic diseases. Exercise is considered as a stimulus in the form of physical stress to which a group of anatomical structures in the human body responds by generating a stress response that enables certain physiological modifications essential for restoring systemic homeostasis. A major component of the response is produced through the complex hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis mechanism that results in the release of cortisol which then intercedes with the effects of the stimulus. To investigate how cortisol helps the body adapt to this physical stress it is necessary to gain deep insight into the cortisol response mechanism. However, this is a complex mechanism, so to better understand the mechanics and to be able to analyze complex data, mathematical models are used. Various mathematical models have already been developed that describe different metabolic responses to exercise but to date, to my knowledge, none of these existing models has illustrated the HPA axis response mechanism, particularly cortisol response to physical exercise. Therefore, I have developed a mathematical model that describes cortisol variations on a normal day in the absence of any form of stress and on the day of exercise. The developed cortisol response model could fit simulation to experimental data and also passed the χ2- statistical test. Additionally, the model has been validated on different cortisol experimental data with satisfying results. At last, considering the positive outcome of this mathematical model, it could be used as a groundwork for developing a comprehensive model which can describe other metabolic processes response to exercise such as glucose metabolism together with the cortisol response mechanism in the future.

No description available.