Non-invasive analysis of progesterone metabolites in Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplemented endangered asian elephants Chharang Dharmendra1,*, Choudhary Sheela1, Kumar Vinod2, Umapathy Govindhaswamy2 1Department of Animal Nutrition, Post Graduate Institute of Veterinary Education and Research, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Jaipur-302031, Rajasthan, India 2Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species, CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad-500007, Telangana, India *Correspondence: dchharang@gmail.com
Online published on 22 August, 2023. Abstract Non-invasive analysis has become a legitimate choice in wildlife biology, endocrine monitoring of reproduction and global ecological research. The development of non-invasive progesterone hormone assays facilitates the conservation and management of wild animals as the population of wildlife, especially endangered Asian elephants, is being declined in their innate habitat. The role of live microbial cultures in endocrinology has also been stated and gut microbiota was shown to affect the production of steroid hormones in the gut. This research was carried out to assess the impact of the supplementation of probiotics on faecal progesterone metabolite concentrations in 18 female Asian elephants. They were randomly divided into three groups with six elephants in each. Experimental probiotics Lactobacillus acidophilus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were administered @ 1 gm 1 × 109 CFU/50 kg body weight per dayorallyto all theelephants of LACTO (T2)and SAC (T3)groups, respectively, whereas the CONT (T1) group received no probiotic. Faecal samples were taken on the 0, 30th, 40th and 50th day of the research for hormone analysis. In conclusion, the supplementation of probiotics did not exhibit any significant difference in faecal progesterone metabolite concentrations in the different groups. Top Keywords Asian elephant, Non-invasive, Probiotics, Progesterone metabolite. Top |