Measuring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCMs) is a widely used, non-invasive method for studies of stress in vertebrates. To study physiological responses in wild Arctic foxes (Vulpes lagopus) to perceived stressors such as fluctuating food availability, occurrence of competitors and predators and disturbance from human activities, a species-specific physiological validation of a method to evaluate adrenocortical activity is needed. Here we used 15 captive Arctic foxes (both males and females and juveniles and adults) to investigate fGCM concentrations following ACTH injection (physiological validation), or handling alone and compared them with their respective baseline concentrations prior to the treatments. A 5α-pregnane-3ß,11ß,21-triol-20-one enzyme immunoassay measured significant fGCM increases following both treatments. The time lags to reach peak fGCM values were 9.3 ± 1.3 h and 12.8 ± 1.7 h for ACTH and handling treatment, respectively. Concentrations of fGCMs varied a lot between individuals, but not attributed to sex nor age of the foxes. However, we found a negative relationship between boldness and fGCM concentrations. Faecal glucocorticoid metabolites concentrations did not change significantly over a period of 48 h in samples kept at temperatures reflecting winter and summer means. This would allow the collection of samples up to two days old in the wild regardless of the season. We conclude that our successfully validated method for measuring fGCMs can be used as a non-invasive tool for studies exploring various stressors both in wild and captive Arctic foxes.

测量粪便糖皮质激素代谢物 (fGCM) 是一种广泛使用的非侵入性方法，用于研究脊椎动物的压力。研究野生北极狐 ( Vulpes lagopus) 的生理反应) 对于感知压力源，例如食物供应的波动、竞争者和捕食者的出现以及人类活动的干扰，需要对评估肾上腺皮质活动的方法进行物种特异性的生理验证。在这里，我们使用了 15 只圈养北极狐（雄性和雌性以及青少年和成人）来研究 ACTH 注射（生理验证）或单独处理后的 fGCM 浓度，并将它们与治疗前各自的基线浓度进行比较。5α-pregnane-3ß,11ß,21-triol-20-one 酶免疫测定法测量了两种治疗后 fGCM 的显着增加。对于 ACTH 和处理处理，达到峰值 fGCM 值的时间滞后分别为 9.3 ± 1.3 小时和 12.8 ± 1.7 小时。fGCM 的浓度因人而异，但与狐狸的性别或年龄无关。然而，我们发现大胆和 fGCM 浓度之间存在负相关。在反映冬季和夏季平均值的温度下保存的样品中，粪便糖皮质激素代谢物浓度在 48 小时内没有显着变化。这将允许在野外收集长达两天的样本，而不管季节如何。我们得出的结论是，我们成功验证的测量 fGCM 的方法可用作研究野生和圈养北极狐的各种压力源的非侵入性工具。这将允许在野外收集长达两天的样本，而不管季节如何。我们得出的结论是，我们成功验证的测量 fGCM 的方法可用作研究野生和圈养北极狐的各种压力源的非侵入性工具。这将允许在野外收集长达两天的样本，而不管季节如何。我们得出的结论是，我们成功验证的测量 fGCM 的方法可用作研究野生和圈养北极狐的各种压力源的非侵入性工具。