Leptin as a measure of body condition in Leach's storm petrel chicks
LE3 .A278 2016
2016
Wilson, Brian Shutler, Dave
Acadia University
Bachelor of Science
Honours
Biology
When a vertebrate is stressed, its body has a neuroendocrine response that involves the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands, with the adrenals releasing glucocorticoids. Corticosterone (CORT) is the most common glucocorticoid secreted in non-human vertebrates, and it plays a crucial role in regulating stress. CORT can be used to assess body condition; however, other metrics of body condition are needed. A less understood measure is leptin protein that is secreted by adipocytes and plays a key role in energy homeostasis by acting on receptors in the hypothalamus to decrease appetite. Leptin is a recently discovered protein in birds, and little is known about its actions. Objectives of this study were to determine if leptin is a suitable indirect proxy of assessing body condition in birds by correlating plasma leptin levels with morphological measures of body size and condition. Blood from Leach’s storm-petrel chicks was sampled to analyze circulating levels of leptin. Plasma was separated from blood and used in Western Blots to analyze chick leptin levels. There were no significant correlations between chick plasma leptin and morphological measures. This could be because chicks may need to keep leptin at a consistent level to increase lipid deposits, which are essential to their growth and survival. Chicks may also have different leptin physiology than adults and domestic, non-avian species . These results contribute to further understanding of avian leptin and measures of body condition
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:1474