Lab-based and on-field analysis of progesterone metabolites in faeces samples of different species

Abstract

In the topic of the reproductive cycle assessment and pregnancy diagnostics, there is an emerging need to develop immunoassays which are suitable for measuring faecal progesterone metabolite level. Faeces samples can be collected very easily and are alternatives for blood sampling in zoo and wild animals. However, the extraction of hormonal content is a labour-intensive process, which requires relatively long time. This step can be shortened, and centrifugation can be avoided, however, the agreement of the results from different extraction protocol is a key for the proper analysis. The aim of this study was to analyse the agreement of data from different extraction protocols (a laboratory based and an on-field alternative) using faeces samples of different species.