| Abstrakt: |
Fecal extracts from a pregnant black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis, were analyzed by radioimmunoassay, HPLC, and by GC-mass spectrometry. From 40 g of dried feces a total of 33 pregnanes in the C21O2series, including a number of novel 17α epimers were identified. No progesterone was recovered. The principal progesterone metabolite by mass was 5α-pregnan-3β,20α-diol (44.5%), which did not cross react with the antibody used in our RIA. The antibody recognized progesterone and pregnanes with 20-one configuration, which when combined made up less than 15% of the total C21O2steroid mass. Of the 33 pregnanes in the C21O2series identified, 81%, by mass, were in the 5α-configuration. These results are compared with studies in other rhinoceros species (Asian and Sumatran) in which pregnanes in the 5β-configuration are the major fecal metabolites, and the white rhinoceros in which pregnanes in the 5α-configuration are the dominant form. |
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