Effects of Endotoxin and Psychological Stress on Redox Physiology, Immunity and Feather Corticosterone in Greenfinches
(2013) In PLoS ONE 8(6).- Abstract
- Assessment of costs accompanying activation of immune system and related neuroendocrine pathways is essential for understanding the selective forces operating on these systems. Here we attempted to detect such costs in terms of disruption to redox balance and interference between different immune system components in captive wild-caught greenfinches (Carduelis chloris). Study birds were subjected to an endotoxin-induced inflammatory challenge and temporary exposure to a psychological stressor (an image of a predator) in a 2*2 factorial experiment. Injection of bacterial endotoxin resulted in up-regulation of two markers of antioxidant protection - erythrocyte glutathione, and plasma oxygen radical absorbance (OXY). These findings suggest... (More)
- Assessment of costs accompanying activation of immune system and related neuroendocrine pathways is essential for understanding the selective forces operating on these systems. Here we attempted to detect such costs in terms of disruption to redox balance and interference between different immune system components in captive wild-caught greenfinches (Carduelis chloris). Study birds were subjected to an endotoxin-induced inflammatory challenge and temporary exposure to a psychological stressor (an image of a predator) in a 2*2 factorial experiment. Injection of bacterial endotoxin resulted in up-regulation of two markers of antioxidant protection - erythrocyte glutathione, and plasma oxygen radical absorbance (OXY). These findings suggest that inflammatory responses alter redox homeostasis. However, no effect on markers of oxidative damage to proteins or DNA in erythrocytes could be detected. We found no evidence that the endotoxin injection interfered with antibody production against Brucella abortus antigen or the intensity of chronic coccidiosis. The hypothesis of within-immune system trade-offs as a cost of immunity was thus not supported in our model system. We showed for the first time that administration of endotoxin can reduce the level of corticosterone deposited into feathers. This finding suggests a down-regulation of the corticosterone secretion cascade due to an endotoxin-induced immune response, a phenomenon that has not been reported previously. Exposure to the predator image did not affect any of the measured physiological parameters. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4053431
- author
- Meitern, Richard ; Sild, Elin LU ; Lind, Mari-Ann ; Maenniste, Marju ; Sepp, Tuul ; Karu, Ulvi and Hoerak, Peeter
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- in
- PLoS ONE
- volume
- 8
- issue
- 6
- article number
- e67545
- publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000320846500144
- scopus:84879270691
- pmid:23805316
- ISSN
- 1932-6203
- DOI
- 10.1371/journal.pone.0067545
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d264323e-d1f8-444c-9f4e-d07527df6cd2 (old id 4053431)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:38:35
- date last changed
- 2022-01-28 01:46:59
@article{d264323e-d1f8-444c-9f4e-d07527df6cd2,
abstract = {{Assessment of costs accompanying activation of immune system and related neuroendocrine pathways is essential for understanding the selective forces operating on these systems. Here we attempted to detect such costs in terms of disruption to redox balance and interference between different immune system components in captive wild-caught greenfinches (Carduelis chloris). Study birds were subjected to an endotoxin-induced inflammatory challenge and temporary exposure to a psychological stressor (an image of a predator) in a 2*2 factorial experiment. Injection of bacterial endotoxin resulted in up-regulation of two markers of antioxidant protection - erythrocyte glutathione, and plasma oxygen radical absorbance (OXY). These findings suggest that inflammatory responses alter redox homeostasis. However, no effect on markers of oxidative damage to proteins or DNA in erythrocytes could be detected. We found no evidence that the endotoxin injection interfered with antibody production against Brucella abortus antigen or the intensity of chronic coccidiosis. The hypothesis of within-immune system trade-offs as a cost of immunity was thus not supported in our model system. We showed for the first time that administration of endotoxin can reduce the level of corticosterone deposited into feathers. This finding suggests a down-regulation of the corticosterone secretion cascade due to an endotoxin-induced immune response, a phenomenon that has not been reported previously. Exposure to the predator image did not affect any of the measured physiological parameters.}},
author = {{Meitern, Richard and Sild, Elin and Lind, Mari-Ann and Maenniste, Marju and Sepp, Tuul and Karu, Ulvi and Hoerak, Peeter}},
issn = {{1932-6203}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{6}},
publisher = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
series = {{PLoS ONE}},
title = {{Effects of Endotoxin and Psychological Stress on Redox Physiology, Immunity and Feather Corticosterone in Greenfinches}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0067545}},
doi = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0067545}},
volume = {{8}},
year = {{2013}},
}