2.5. ACTH Stimulation Challenge

To test whether EIAs could detect an expected increase in FCM levels, we injected all deermice with 250 µg/ kg ACTH (Cortrosyn, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA) mixed in 0.9% sterile saline solution intraperitoneally at ~20:00 h. Again, each individual was used as its own control and because ACTH doses have not been reported for deermice, we formulated this dose based on above cited studies. As above, we started to collect samples at 22:00 h for ~48 h although we were unable to analyze samples 12 h post injection (Table 1). No samples were collected at the time of injection.