Table 5.

Steroid concentrations determined by GC/MS/MS in the plasma of ewes according to their metabolic status and dietary exposure to BPS.

Steroids	POOL SAMPLES
	Mean concentration (ng/mL) ± SEM				p-value
	R0	R50	WF0	WF50	Diet effect	BPS effect	Diet x BPS effect
Precursors
PREG	2.210 ± 0.522ab	1.857 ± 0.276a	2.240 ± 0.162a	3.284 ± 0.451b	0.055	0.375	0.065
20α-DHPREG	0.045 ± 0.009a	0.047 ± 0.007ab	0.051 ± 0.012ab	0.079 ± 0.012b	0.122	0.209	0.300
17α-OH PREG	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Progestogens (C21)
Progesterone	0.102 ± 0.015a	0.059 ± 0.011b	0.044 ± 0.009b	0.061 ± 0.014ab	0.040	0.315	0.030
5α-DHP	0.302 ± 0.053a	0.155 ± 0.006b	0.212 ± 0.035ab	0.159 ± 0.033b	0.264	0.018	0.233
5β-DHP	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
20α-DHP	0.017 ± 0.003	0.017 ± 0.005	0.021 ± 0.005	0.029 ± 0.007	0.149	0.423	0.489
3α5α-THP	1.259 ± 0.150 a	0.718 ± 0.201a	0.217 ± 0.039b	0.167 ± 0.041 b	< 0.001	0.016	0.042
3α5β-THP	0.097 ± 0.032	0.143 ± 0.052	0.123 ± 0.020	0.126 ± 0.032	0.933	0.472	0.554
3β5α-THP	0.004 ± 0.004a	0.011 ± 0.005ab	0.015 ± 0.004b	0.012 ± 0.003ab	0.144	0.669	0.263
3α5α20α-HHP	0.029 ± 0.009	0.045 ± 0.011	0.030 ± 0.007	0.030 ± 0.006	0.399	0.353	0.350
3α5β20α-HHP	0.151 ± 0.025a	0.171 ± 0.043ab	0.101 ± 0.014ab	0.090 ± 0.005b	0.010	0.856	0.507
3α5β20β-HHP	0.047 ± 0.005 a	0.052 ± 0.007a	0.026 ± 0.007b	0.030 ± 0.004b	0.003	0.484	1.000
3β5α20β-HHP	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
3β5α20α-HHP	0.011 ± 0.003	0.009 ± 0.006	0.018 ± 0.004	0.012 ± 0.002	0.202	0.332	0.656
17α-OHP	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
16α-OHP	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Androgens (C19)
Testosterone	0.010 ± 0.003	0.012 ± 0.002	0.008 ± 0.001	0.010 ± 0.001	0.421	0.321	0.880
5α-DHT	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
5β-DHT	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
DHEA	0.015 ± 0.005	0.013 ± 0.002	0.011 ± 0.003	0.012 ± 0.004	0.496	0.935	0.740
ADIOL	0.016 ± 0.001	0.028 ± 0.010	0.020 ± 0.004	0.017 ± 0.003	0.512	0.498	0.154
ADIONE	0.025 ± 0.002a	0.025 ± 0.004a	0.031 ± 0.005ab	0.041 ± 0.007b	0.046	0.349	0.283
5α-DHADIONE	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Estrogens (C18)
Estradiol	0.008 ± 0.001a	0.004 ± 0.001b	0.006 ± 0.002 ab	0.005 ± 0.002ab	0.612	0.165	0.470
E1	< 0.0005a	0.011 ± 0.004b	0.011 ± 0.003b	0.005 ± 0.001b	0.417	0.455	0.007
E3	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	< 0.001	NA	NA	NA
2-ME2	< 0.005	< 0.005	< 0.005	< 0.005	NA	NA	NA
2-OH-E2	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Corticoids (C21)
Glucocorticoids
Cortisol (F)	16.052 ± 1.002a	16.130 ± 0.842a	23.735 ± 2.659b	26.040 ± 2.217b	0.002	0.609	0.605
Cortisone	10.775 ± 3.209	24.217 ± 8.293	29.593 ± 7.679	12.750 ± 6.289	0.605	0.794	0.052
11-deoxyF	0.149 ± 0.022	0.115 ± 0.047	0.106 ± 0.043	0.270 ± 0.096	0.409	0.326	0.130
3α5β-THF	0.257 ± 0.044a	0.243 ± 0.022a	0.271 ± 0.012a	0.382 ± 0.023b	0.008	0.070	0.024
Mineralocorticoids
Corticosterone (B)	0.420 ± 0.101ab	0.397 ± 0.061a	0.608 ± 0.064b	0.731 ± 0.197ab	0.033	0.796	0.610
11-dehydroB	3.822 ± 0.674	2.767 ± 0.850	2.485 ± 0.525	20.048 ± 0.740	0.155	0.306	0.681
3α5α-THDOC	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA

Ewes were either restricted (R groups) or well-fed (WF groups) and received BPS 0 or 50 µg/kg/day, for at least three months before the start of plasma/fluid collection. Thus, four groups were formed: R0 (n = 4), R50 (n = 4), WF0 (n = 6) and WF50 (n = 5). Results are presented as mean (ng/mL) ± SEM. Tukey post-tests are indicated by superscript letters, different letters indicating significantly different conditions (p < 0.05). Two-way ANOVA p-values are presented for the effects of diet, dietary exposure to BPS and the interaction of these effects. Bold text indicates significant differences (p < 0.05). See Table 1 for the steroid abbreviations. NA, not available.