INVESTIGADORES
PALACIOS Maria Gabriela
artículos
Título:
Interrelations among immune defense indices reflect major components of the immune system in a free living vertebrate.
Autor/es:
PALACIOS, M. G.; CUNNICK, J. E.; WINKLER, D. W.; VLECK, C. M.
Revista:
PHYSIOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL ZOOLOGY
Editorial:
UNIV CHICAGO PRESS
Referencias:
Año: 2012 vol. 85 p. 1 - 10
ISSN:
1522-2152
Resumen:
Understanding the relationships among immune components in free-living animals is achallenge in ecoimmunology, and it is not only important for selecting the immuneassays to be used, but also for more knowledgeable interpretation of results. In thepresent study, we investigated the relationships among six immune defense indicescommonly used by ecoimmunologists and measured simultaneously in individual freelivingtree swallows. Three main axes of variation in immune function were identifiedusing a principal components analysis, representing variation in T-cell, B-cell, andinnate immunity. Measures within each axis tended to be positively correlated amongindividuals, while measures in different axes were uncorrelated. A trade-off between Tcelland B-cell function became apparent only when variation among individuals inbody condition, age, and general quality was taken into account. Interestingly, the levelof natural antibodies, a component of innate immunity, showed the strongestassociation with components of acquired B-cell function, possibly reflecting a commonunderlying genetic mechanism, as has been documented in poultry. Our resultsindicate that despite the complexity of the immune system, important insights can begained by using the currently available assays but in a more comprehensive approachthan has generally been used in the field of ecoimmunology.