DOI: 10.5061/dryad.6r9q6
title: Data from: Measuring fecal testosterone in females and fecal estrogens in males: comparison of RIA and LC/MS/MS methods for wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus).

description: The development of non-invasive methods, particularly fecal determination,
 has made possible the assessment of hormone concentrations in wild animal
 populations. However, measuring fecal metabolites needs careful validation
 for each species and for each sex. We investigated whether
 radioimmunoassays (RIAs) previously used to measure fecal testosterone
 (fT) in male baboons and fecal estrogens (fE) in female baboons were well
 suited to measure these hormones in the opposite sex. We compared fE and
 fT concentrations determined by RIA to those measured by liquid
 chromatography combined with triple quadropole mass spectrometry
 (LC/MS/MS), a highly specific method. Additionally, we conducted a
 biological validation to assure that the measurements of fecal
 concentrations reflected physiological levels of the hormone of interest.
 Several tests produced expected results that led us to conclude that our
 RIAs can reliably measure fT and fE in both sexes, and that within-sex
 comparisons of these measures are valid: (i) fTRIA were significantly
 correlated to fTLC/MS/MS for both sexes; (ii) fTRIA were higher in adult
 than in immature males; (iii) fTRIA were higher in pregnant than
 non-pregnant females; (iv) fERIA were correlated with 17β-estradiol (fE2)
 and with estrone (fE1) determined by LC/MS/MS in pregnant females; (v)
 fERIA were significantly correlated with fE2 in non-pregnant females and
 nearly significantly correlated in males; (vi) fERIA were higher in adult
 males than in immature males. fERIA were higher in females than in males,
 as predicted, but unexpectedly, fTRIA were higher in females than in
 males, suggesting a difference in steroid metabolism in the two sexes;
 consequently, we conclude that while within-sex comparisons are valid,
 fTRIA should not be used for intersexual comparisons. Our results should
 open the field to important additional studies, as to date the roles of
 testosterone in females and estrogens in males have been little
 investigated.
description: Dryad Tables 1 and
 2This
 data file contains the hormone concentrations (in ng/g feces) for 26 adult
 males, 25 pregnant females, and 29 non-pregnant females, determined by
 radioimmunoassays (RIA) and/or liquid chromatography combined with triple
 quadropole mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The following hormones were
 measured: testosterone (T), androstendione, 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT),
 dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), androsterone, estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol
 (E2) and total estrogens (E). Note that a few individuals were represented
 by two samples, in which case we calculated the mean hormone value and
 this mean was used for the analyses.Dryad Fig.
 1This
 data file contains the testosterone (T) concentrations, the
 logarithm-transformed T concentrations and the number of days from the
 onset of sex skin deturgescence for all the fecal samples collected
 between September 2009 and June 2013, for pregnant and non-pregnant
 females. See manuscript for more information.Dryad Fig
 1.xlsxDryad Fig.
 2This
 data file contains the testosterone (T) concentrations, the
 logarithm-transformed T concentrations and the number of weeks into
 pregnancy for all the pregnant female’s fecal samples collected between
 September 2009 and June 2013.Dryad Fig
 2.xlsxDryad
 MalesThis data file contains
 the estrogens (E) and testosterone (T) concentrations (in ng/g feces) and
 their logarithm transformed values for immature males (3-5 years old) and
 adult males (8-10 years old).