Effects of physical restraint and endogenous adrenocorticotropin challenges on corticosterone levels and immunological indexes in Caiman latirostris

MARIA SOLEDAD MOLEÓN BERSANI; PABLO CUERVO; MARIA VIRGINIA PARACHÚ MARCÓ; ELISA PIETROBON; GRACIELA ALMA JAHN; PABLO ARIEL SIROSKI

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY

NATL RESEARCH COUNCIL CANADA-N R C RESEARCH PRESS

Lugar: Otawa; Año: 2023

0008-4301

In the wild, vertebrates face numerous unpredictable and harmful stressors such as storms, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis, and others. A typical physiological response to a perceived stressor is the increased secretion of glucocorticoids. Such a response is adaptive in the short term and could modulate the cellular immune response. Our purpose in this study was to examine the effect of stimulation with adrenocorticotropin injection and physical restraint on plasma corticosterone levels, and total and differential white blood cells counts in Caiman latirostris. Individuals under physical restraint increased corticosterone levels over time. Otherwise, no differences were observed in the corticosterone concentration between individuals injected with adrenocorticotropin and those injected with saline solution. High corticosterone concentrations in the physical restraint caimans produced a biphasic profile on total white blood cell counts, as well as the lymphocyte and heterophil counts. This response to physical restraint may represent a stress response with an increase in immune surveillance in organs.