The hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and its sulfate ester (DHEAS) are the most abundant circulating steroids in human and some nonhuman primates, and have been implicated in development, aging and in stress modulation. We aimed to validate a commercially available enzyme immunoassay kit to measure DHEAS in feces and serum of three platyrrhine primate species (Alouatta caraya, Aotus azarae infulatus, and Sapajus apella) in captivity. We collected serum samples from one male and one female from each species. To validate the kit for fecal samples, we conducted a physiological validation by administering DHEA orally to one adult female of each species. We also measured fecal DHEAS levels in four female Alouatta caraya individuals during the third semester of gestation and in two females following parturition. We obtained a total of 54 fecal samples and 6 serum samples from 10 individuals. We validated the assay analytically by testing parallelism and accuracy tests in both fecal and serum extracts for all species. We observed a peak in DHEAS 24 h following oral DHEA administration in all three species, with A. caraya presenting the strongest response and highest baseline concentrations. DHEAS levels were elevated in pregnant A. caraya (57,843.86 ± 37,160.31 ng/g) and declined after parturition (1,539.07 ± 2,894.74 ng/g). Our results demonstrated that these platyrrhines secrete measurable concentrations of DHEAS, with A. caraya secreting levels comparable to those of catarrhines. The EIA kit is valid for quantification of fecal and serum DHEAS, and it is useful for studies on stress and primate evolution.

激素脱氢表雄酮 (DHEA) 及其硫酸酯 (DHEAS) 是人类和一些非人类灵长类动物中最丰富的循环类固醇，并且与发育、衰老和压力调节有关。我们旨在验证市售的酶免疫分析试剂盒，用于测量圈养的三种桔梗灵长类动物（Alouatta caraya、Aotus azarae infulatus和Sapajus apella）的粪便和血清中的 DHEAS 。我们从每个物种的一名雄性和一名雌性中收集了血清样本。为了验证粪便样本的试剂盒，我们通过向每个物种的一名成年女性口服 DHEA 进行了生理验证。我们还测量了四只雌性Alouatta caraya 的粪便 DHEAS 水平个体在妊娠的第三个学期和分娩后的两个雌性中。我们从 10 个个体中总共获得了 54 个粪便样本和 6 个血清样本。我们通过在所有物种的粪便和血清提取物中测试平行性和准确性测试来分析验证该测定。我们在所有三个物种中观察到口服 DHEA 后 24 小时 DHEAS 的峰值，其中A. caraya表现出最强的反应和最高的基线浓度。怀孕A. caraya 中的DHEAS 水平升高(57,843.86 ± 37,160.31 ng/g) 并在分娩后下降 (1,539.07 ± 2,894.74 ng/g)。我们的结果表明，这些桔梗分泌可测量浓度的 DHEAS，其中A. caraya分泌水平与卡他林相当。EIA 试剂盒适用于粪便和血清 DHEAS 的定量，可用于研究压力和灵长类动物进化。