Using an Oral Sugar Test to Biologically Validate the Use of a Commercial Enzyme Immunoassay to Measure Salivary Insulin in Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Noninvasive evaluations of hormones can contribute to the assessment of health and welfare of animals. Variations in insulin levels and sensitivity, for example, have been linked to health concerns in non-human and human primates including insulin resistance, diabetes, and heart disease, the leading cause of death in zoo-housed gorillas. Few published studies have assessed insulin concentrations in western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), and all did so using serum.