QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online June 13, 2008
Journal of Experimental Biology 211, 2155-2161 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
doi: 10.1242/jeb.017178

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Perez-Rodriguez, L. Articles by Bortolotti, G. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Perez-Rodriguez, L. Articles by Bortolotti, G. R. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Cell-mediated immune activation rapidly decreases plasma carotenoids but does not affect oxidative stress in red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa)

Lorenzo Perez-Rodriguez^1,2,*, François Mougeot^1,2, Carlos Alonso-Alvarez¹, Julio Blas³, Javier Viñuela¹ and Gary R. Bortolotti⁴

¹ Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos, IREC (CSIC, UCLM, JCCM), Ciudad Real, Spain
² School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
³ Estación Biológica de Doñana (CSIC), Seville, Spain
⁴ Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: lorenzo.perez{at}uclm.es)

Accepted 6 April 2008

In animals yellow-orange-red sexual traits pigmented by carotenoids have been suggested to act as signals of current health. Because carotenoids have important physiological functions, individuals might trade-off allocating these pigments to self-maintenance versus coloration. Carotenoids may act as scavengers of free radicals that are released during an immune response. Here, we experimentally assessed whether a local cell-mediated immune response affects circulating carotenoids, antioxidant status, oxidative damage and the expression of a carotenoid-based trait. Male red-legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) were subcutaneously injected with phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or with phosphate buffer solution (controls). The effect of the treatment on circulating carotenoids, total plasma antioxidant status (TAS), lipid oxidative damage in erythrocytes (TBARS) and ornamentation was assessed. Immune challenge induced a 13% decrease in circulating carotenoids within 24 h. However, this treatment did not affect TAS, TBARS or coloration. Coloration, circulating carotenoids and cell-mediated immune response were positively correlated, but these were not related to TAS or TBARS. Carotenoids were only weakly related to TAS after controlling for the effect of uric acid levels. These results suggest that carotenoid-based ornaments may honestly indicate immunocompetence but probably not antioxidant capacity in this species, and that carotenoids might be relatively weak antioxidants in the plasma. Furthermore, even a relatively harmless and locally elicited immune challenge had important effects on circulating carotenoids, but this effect did not appear to be associated with oxidative stress. Alternative mechanisms linking carotenoids to immunity (not necessarily relying on the use of these pigments as antioxidants) should be considered in future studies on birds.

Key words: antioxidants, immune response, phytohaemagglutinin, red-legged partridge, sexual selection, TAS, TBARS

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Alonso-Alvarez, L. Perez-Rodriguez, J. T. Garcia, and J. Vinuela Testosterone-mediated trade-offs in the old age: a new approach to the immunocompetence handicap and carotenoid-based sexual signalling Proc R Soc B, June 7, 2009; 276(1664): 2093 - 2101. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Scholtz, I. Halle, G. Flachowsky, and H. Sauerwein Serum chemistry reference values in adult Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) including sex-related differences Poult. Sci., June 1, 2009; 88(6): 1186 - 1190. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Biard, C. Hardy, S. Motreuil, and J. Moreau Dynamics of PHA-induced immune response and plasma carotenoids in birds: should we have a closer look? J. Exp. Biol., May 1, 2009; 212(9): 1336 - 1343. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]