Estradiol extraction and quantification in macaques: development and evalution of sampling methods

Ovarian hormones exert a strong influence on the brain; for example, estradiol (E2) has been found to modulate neuronal plasticity measured in vitro. To develop an understanding of how in vivo neuronal changes relate to the human brain, the non-human primate represents the closest animal model; however, no methodology is currently available for the continual, daily monitoring of E2 using non-human primates. The purpose of this thesis is to develop such a method. Daily sampling from 2 consecutive cycles in each of 3 rhesus macaques indicate that saliva can be used to detect the mid-cycle peaks in E2. Saliva-serum correlations were low, suggesting that further refinement will be needed to increase this method's applicability to measures that require off-peak daily E2 fluctuations. An example includes the measurement of E2 concentration in conjunction with electrophysiology, to monitor the influence of estradiol levels on neural activity.