Section: Ecology
Topic: Developmental biology, Ecology, Physiology

Sex differences in the relationship between maternal and foetal glucocorticoids in a free-ranging large mammal

Amin, Bawan1, 2  ; Fishman, Ruth3, 4 ; Quinn, Matthew1, 5 ; Matas, Devorah3; Palme, Rupert6 ; Koren, Lee3 ; Ciuti, Simone1 
1 Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2 Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
3 Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
4 Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
5 Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
6 Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria

Corresponding author(s): Amin, Bawan (b.k.r.amin@uu.nl)

10.24072/pcjournal.431 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 4 (2024), article no. e57.

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Maternal phenotypes can have long-term effects on offspring phenotypes. These maternal effects may begin during gestation, when maternal glucocorticoid (GC) levels may affect foetal GC levels, thereby having an organizational effect on the offspring phenotype. Recent studies have showed that maternal effects may be different between the sexes. However, how maternal GC levels relate to foetal levels is still not completely understood. Here we related, for the first time in a free-ranging large mammal, the fallow deer (Dama dama), maternal GC levels with foetal in utero GC levels. We did this in a non-invasive way by quantifying cortisol metabolites from faecal samples collected from pregnant does during late gestation, as proxy for maternal GC level. These were then related to GC levels from hair of their neonate offspring (n = 40). We have shown that maternal GC levels were positively associated with foetal GC levels, but only in female offspring. These findings highlight sex differences, which may have evolved to optimize male growth at the cost of survival.

Published online:
DOI: 10.24072/pcjournal.431
Type: Research article
Keywords: cortisol, free-ranging, fallow deer, hair-testing, faecal metabolites

Amin, Bawan 1, 2; Fishman, Ruth 3, 4; Quinn, Matthew 1, 5; Matas, Devorah 3; Palme, Rupert 6; Koren, Lee 3; Ciuti, Simone 1

1 Laboratory of Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
2 Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
3 Faculty of Life Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
4 Department of Brain Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
5 Department of Biosciences, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
6 Unit of Physiology, Pathophysiology and Experimental Endocrinology, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria
License: CC-BY 4.0
Copyrights: The authors retain unrestricted copyrights and publishing rights 
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Amin, Bawan; Fishman, Ruth; Quinn, Matthew; Matas, Devorah; Palme, Rupert; Koren, Lee; Ciuti, Simone. Sex differences in the relationship between maternal and foetal glucocorticoids in a free-ranging large mammal. Peer Community Journal, Volume 4 (2024), article  no. e57. doi : 10.24072/pcjournal.431. https://peercommunityjournal.org/articles/10.24072/pcjournal.431/

PCI peer reviews and recommendation, and links to data, scripts, code and supplementary information: 10.24072/pci.ecology.100543

Conflict of interest of the recommender and peer reviewers:
The recommender in charge of the evaluation of the article and the reviewers declared that they have no conflict of interest (as defined in the code of conduct of PCI) with the authors or with the content of the article.

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