Identification of a series of C(21)O(2) pregnanes from fecal extracts of a pregnant black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis minor).
Fecal extracts from a pregnant black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, were analyzed by radioimmunoassay, HPLC, and by GC-mass spectrometry. From 40 g of dried feces a total of 33 pregnanes in the C(21)O(2) series, including a number of novel 17 alpha epimers were identified. No progesterone was recovered. The principal progesterone metabolite by mass was 5 alpha-pregnan-3 beta,20 alpha-diol (44.5%), which did not cross react with the antibody used in our RIA. The antibody recognized progesterone and pregnanes with 20-one configuration, which when combined made up less than 15% of the total C(21)O(2) steroid mass. Of the 33 pregnanes in the C(21)O(2) series identified, 81%, by mass, were in the 5 alpha-configuration. These results are compared with studies in other rhinoceros species (Asian and Sumatran) in which pregnanes in the 5 beta-configuration are the major fecal metabolites, and the white rhinoceros in which pregnanes in the 5 alpha-configuration are the dominant form.
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Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, Zoological Society of San Diego, 1354 Old Globe Way, San Diego, CA 92101, USA. lvalentin@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Patton
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Hagey
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D000818:Animals; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003429:Cross Reactions; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D010527:Perissodactyla / Q000378:metabolism*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011278:Pregnanes / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D013997:Time Factors
D011278:Pregnanes