Effects of dietary fibre on faecal steroid measurements in baboons (Papio cynocephalus cynocephalus).

A study was conducted in captive baboons to determine (i) the impact of cereal dietary fibre on faecal progestogen excretion, and (ii) whether means of controlling dietary effects could be identified. Blood was collected on 3 days per week and faeces on 5 days per week from four unanesthetized cyclic female baboons, consecutively fed three diets of 5, 10 and 20% fibre for 90 days per diet. A 2 day lag time was detected before progesterone in the blood appeared in the faeces, regardless of diet (mean correlation was 0.62, P = 0.002). Increased dietary fibre had a negative effect on progestogen excretion (P < 0.004). Correspondence between blood and faecal progestogens was consistently greatest and the effect of dietary fibre least when faecal progestogens were expressed g-1 dry faeces. Several means of indexing faecal steroid excretion rates were examined including dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and a number of byproducts of cholesterol metabolism. The cholesterol metabolite, cholestanone, was positively correlated with dietary fibre (r = 0.27; P < 0.04). Multiplying faecal progestogen concentration by the cholestanone g-1 dry faeces concentration increased the correlation between serum and cholestanone-indexed faecal progestogens (r = 0.78, P = 0.0001) compared with nonindexed progestogens (r = 0.71, P = 0.0001). We conclude that expressing faecal progestogens g-1 dry faeces may be sufficient and the most cost-effective method for controlling for most dietary effects when the objective is monitoring longitudinal endocrine status in baboons. However, it may be appropriate to express faecal progestogens by cholestanone concentrations when increased precision is needed to overcome the effects of profound variations in dietary fibre.