Spectral pattern of urinary water as a biomarker of estrus in the giant panda
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Desheng Li; Hiroshi Kusunoki; Osamu Ishikawa; Mari Miyazaki; Roumiana Tsenkova; Maria Vassileva; Hiroyuki Morita; Kodzue Kinoshita; Chunxiang Tang
- Source
- Scientific Reports
- Subject
- medicine.medical_specialty
Estrone
Urinary system
Urine
Article
Absorbance
Estrus
Internal medicine
medicine
Animals
Spectroscopy
Estrous cycle
Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared
Multidisciplinary
Chromatography
Chemistry
digestive, oral, and skin physiology
Near-infrared spectroscopy
Water
Hydrogen Bonding
Endocrinology
Estrus Detection
Biomarker (medicine)
Animals, Zoo
Female
Biomarkers
Ursidae
- Language
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been successfully used for non-invasive diagnosis of diseases and abnormalities where water spectral patterns are found to play an important role. The present study investigates water absorbance patterns indicative of estrus in the female giant panda. NIR spectra of urine samples were acquired from the same animal on a daily basis over three consecutive putative estrus periods. Characteristic water absorbance patterns based on 12 specific water absorbance bands were discovered, which displayed high urine spectral variation, suggesting that hydrogen-bonded water structures increase with estrus. Regression analysis of urine spectra and spectra of estrone-3-glucuronide standard concentrations at these water bands showed high correlation with estrogen levels. Cluster analysis of urine spectra grouped together estrus samples from different years. These results open a new avenue for using water structure as a molecular mirror for fast estrus detection.