Animal geneticsJul 29, 2026

Changes in Cell Aging Markers and Stress Hormones in Grazing Goats: Early Insights for Welfare Monitoring

Longevity & Aging Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Aug 3, 2026

Abstract

Serum cortisol concentration (SCC) increased from 5.84 to 12.93 ng/mL during adverse weather conditions in grazing dairy goats.

Telomere length (TL) decreased from 1.21 to 0.92 before recovering to 1.16, indicating transient shortening due to environmental stress.
SCC returned to baseline levels after the adverse weather conditions subsided.
A negative correlation was observed between TL and humidity/dew point, and a positive correlation with rainfall.
These correlations suggest that moisture-related stressors may influence TL dynamics in grazing dairy goats.
Integrating TL and SCC could enhance welfare assessments in pasture-based livestock systems.

Simplified

This study evaluated telomere length (TL) and serum cortisol concentration (SCC) as complementary stress biomarkers in grazing dairy goats. Twenty pluriparous "Camosciata delle Alpi" goats were monitored under extensive conditions at three 15-day intervals. Milk-derived DNA was used to assess TL by quantitative PCR; SCC was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Environmental parameters were recorded throughout the trial. SCC rose from 5.84 to 12.93 ng/mL at the second sampling, coinciding with adverse weather, and returned to baseline thereafter. TL decreased from 1.21 to 0.92 (telomere-to-single-copy gene-T/S ratio) before recovering to 1.16. TL was negatively correlated with humidity and dew point, and positively correlated with rainfall, suggesting that moisture-related stressors influence TL dynamics. These findings indicate that acute environmental challenges induce transient telomere shortening. Integrating TL and SCC provides a more comprehensive welfare assessment, with TL emerging as a promising non-invasive genomic biomarker for stress and resilience in pasture-based livestock systems.

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Changes in Cell Aging Markers and Stress Hormones in Grazing Goats: Early Insights for Welfare Monitoring

Abstract

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