On the adaptive significance of stress-induced immunosuppression
Råberg, Lars LU ; Grahn, Mats LU ; Hasselquist, Dennis LU and Svensson, Erik LU
(1998)
In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
265(1406).
p.1637-1641
- Abstract
- We approach the field of stress immunology from an ecological point of view and ask: why should a heavy physical workload, for example as a result of a high reproductive effort, compromise immune function? We argue that immunosuppression by neuroendocrine mechanisms, such as stress hormones, during heavy physical workload is adaptive, and consider two different ultimate explanations of such immunosuppression. First, several authors have suggested that the immune system is suppressed to reallocate resources to other metabolic demands. In our view, this hypothesis assumes that considerable amounts of energy or nutrients can be saved by suppressing the immune system; however, this assumption requires further investigation. Second, we suggest... (More)
- We approach the field of stress immunology from an ecological point of view and ask: why should a heavy physical workload, for example as a result of a high reproductive effort, compromise immune function? We argue that immunosuppression by neuroendocrine mechanisms, such as stress hormones, during heavy physical workload is adaptive, and consider two different ultimate explanations of such immunosuppression. First, several authors have suggested that the immune system is suppressed to reallocate resources to other metabolic demands. In our view, this hypothesis assumes that considerable amounts of energy or nutrients can be saved by suppressing the immune system; however, this assumption requires further investigation. Second, we suggest an alternative explanation based on the idea that the immune system is tightly regulated by neuroendocrine mechanisms to avoid hyperactivation and ensuing autoimmune responses. We hypothesize that the risk of autoimmune responses increases during heavy physical workload and that the immune system is suppressed to counteract this. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1747724
- author
- Råberg, Lars
LU
; Grahn, Mats
LU
; Hasselquist, Dennis
LU
and Svensson, Erik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 1998
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- immune-system, strenuous exercise, reproductive effort, pituitary-adrenal axis, exercise, strenuous, sexual selection, cost of reproduction, immunocompetence, autoimmunity, proteins, cost, recognition, hypotheses, endocrine
- in
- Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
- volume
- 265
- issue
- 1406
- pages
- 1637 - 1641
- publisher
- Royal Society Publishing
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:0032494125
- ISSN
- 1471-2954
- DOI
- 10.1098/rspb.1998.0482
- project
- Immunoecology
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 27fd84ba-24ab-429e-9b34-d7b3d4ffca00 (old id 1747724)
- alternative location
- http://www.jstor.org/stable/51135
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 16:05:43
- date last changed
- 2023-02-14 08:14:11
@article{27fd84ba-24ab-429e-9b34-d7b3d4ffca00,
abstract = {{We approach the field of stress immunology from an ecological point of view and ask: why should a heavy physical workload, for example as a result of a high reproductive effort, compromise immune function? We argue that immunosuppression by neuroendocrine mechanisms, such as stress hormones, during heavy physical workload is adaptive, and consider two different ultimate explanations of such immunosuppression. First, several authors have suggested that the immune system is suppressed to reallocate resources to other metabolic demands. In our view, this hypothesis assumes that considerable amounts of energy or nutrients can be saved by suppressing the immune system; however, this assumption requires further investigation. Second, we suggest an alternative explanation based on the idea that the immune system is tightly regulated by neuroendocrine mechanisms to avoid hyperactivation and ensuing autoimmune responses. We hypothesize that the risk of autoimmune responses increases during heavy physical workload and that the immune system is suppressed to counteract this.}},
author = {{Råberg, Lars and Grahn, Mats and Hasselquist, Dennis and Svensson, Erik}},
issn = {{1471-2954}},
keywords = {{immune-system; strenuous exercise; reproductive effort; pituitary-adrenal axis; exercise; strenuous; sexual selection; cost of reproduction; immunocompetence; autoimmunity; proteins; cost; recognition; hypotheses; endocrine}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{1406}},
pages = {{1637--1641}},
publisher = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
series = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
title = {{On the adaptive significance of stress-induced immunosuppression}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1998.0482}},
doi = {{10.1098/rspb.1998.0482}},
volume = {{265}},
year = {{1998}},
}