Stress Induced Polarization of Immune-Neuroendocrine Phenotypes in Gallus gallus

NAZAR FN, ESTEVEZ I, CORREA SG, MARIN R

Scientific Reports

Springer Nature

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2017

Immune-neuroendocrine phenotypes (INPs) stand for population subgroupsdiffering in immune-neuroendocrine interactions. While mammalian INPshave been characterized thoroughly in rats and humans, avian INPs were only recently described in Coturnix coturnix (quail). To assess the scope of this biological phenomenon, herein we characterized INPs in Gallus gallus (a domestic hen strain submitted to a very long history of strong selective breeding pressure) and evaluated whether a social chronic stress challenge modulates the individuals? interplay affecting the INP subsets and distribution.Evaluating plasmatic basal corticosterone, interferon-γ and interleukin-4concentrations, innate/acquired leukocyte ratio, PHA-P skin-swelling andinduced antibody responses, two opposite INP profiles were found: LEWIS like (15% of the population) and FISCHER-like (16%) hens. After chronicstress, an increment of about 12% in each polarized INP frequency was found at expenses of a reduction in the number of birds with intermediate responses.Results show that polarized INPs are also a phenomenon occurring in hens.The observed inter-individual variation suggest that, even after a considerable selection process, the population is still well prepared to deal with a variety of immune-neuroendocrine challenges. Stress promoted disruptive effects,leading to a more balanced INPs distribution, which represents a new substrate for challenging situations.