2026-10-07T01:25:47Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/32411784 2026-09-23T16:08:58Z category_24412 category_24220 category_24214 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Urinary neopterin and cortisol in greater spear-nosed bats Gerald Wilkinson (747363) Jillian Kaiser (24025570) Animal immunology Ecological physiology Behavioural ecology inflammation immunosenescence aging Phyllostomus hastatus greater spear-nosed bat <p dir="ltr">This data file contains estimates of neopterin and cortisol measured by ELISA or gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry in urine of greater spear-nosed bats. Neopterin is used as a biomarker of inflammation because it is a byproduct of macrophage activation. Neopterin concentration typically increases with age in humans and other primates but has not been studied in bats. Given that bats are particularly long-lived mammals for their size, studying neopterin across the lifespan may reveal whether individuals are resistant to age-related changes in immune activation. We used Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to estimate neopterin concentration in urine samples collected from wild greater spear-nosed bats (<i>Phyllostomus hastatus</i>) in Trinidad. Greater spear-nosed bats have an extremely polygynous mating system, with male mortality rates nearly double that of females. We estimated age from recaptures, an epigenetic clock, or tooth-wear. To biologically validate neopterin concentrations, we used ELISA and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to estimate urinary cortisol, a glucocorticoid that responds to inflammation. Consistent with expectations, neopterin levels were positively associated with cortisol levels in both sexes. Unexpectedly, neopterin levels were negatively related to age in males, but independent of age in females. These results suggest that greater spear-nosed bats exhibit sex differences in age-related changes in immune activation that may relate to their female-biased survival.</p> 2026-09-23T16:08:58Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.32411784.v1 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Urinary_neopterin_and_cortisol_in_greater_spear-nosed_bats/32411784 CC BY 4.0