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Seasonal immune rhythm of leukocytes in the freshwater snakehead fish, Channa punctatus

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Abstract

Annual rhythms are observed in many physiological processes and are an important approach to cope with seasonal stressors. The use of lower vertebrates as an experimental model is crucial to understand the evolution of this biological clock. This study aims to characterize the seasonal variability in the leukocyte immune responses in Channa punctatus. Leukocytes were harvested from peripheral blood and respiratory burst activity, leukocyte phagocytosis, and nitrite production were assessed to study innate immunity. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were segregated by centrifugation (density gradient) and proliferative responses of lymphocytes, in the presence of mitogens, were used to study cell-mediated immunity. Annual rhythms were validated in superoxide anion production, nitrite release and phagocytosis. Cosinor analysis revealed a differential pattern of lymphocyte proliferation which was dependent upon season and mitogen used. It was concluded that seasonal variation in immune activity might be associated with annual adaptation against diseases and the optimum immune status of seasonal breeders like fish helps them fight seasonal changes.

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Acknowledgements

Funding (Grant Number F.30-96/2015 (BSR) dated 30/03/2015) from University Grants Commission, India to Dr. Manish Kumar Tripathi is thankfully acknowledged. The authors are grateful to www.meteoblue.com for providing weather data.

Funding

University Grants Commission—South Eastern Regional Office, F.30-96/2015 (BSR) dated 30/03/2015, Manish Kumar Tripathi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, School of Studies in Life Sciences, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya (A Central University), Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, 495009, India

    Ajay Kumar Bhardwaj, Rakesh Kumar Chandra & Manish Kumar Tripathi

  2. Odisha State Higher Education Council, Government of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 751 002, India

    Atanu Kumar Pati

  3. School of Studies in Life Science, Pandit Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, 492010, India

    Atanu Kumar Pati

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  1. Ajay Kumar Bhardwaj
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Correspondence to Manish Kumar Tripathi.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The research work on the fish Channa punctatus was approved by Institutional Animal Ethics Committee of the University (Approval Number: 994/GO/Re/S/06CPCSEA). All the experiments were carried out following the guidelines of the committee for the purpose of control and supervision of experiments on animals (CPCSEA), Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation, were abided by in maintenance of animals. All the authors have consented for the publication. The data pertaining to the results are available in the manuscript. Further queries may be addressed to the corresponding author. AKB and RKC have performed the experiment, AKP has done the Cosinor analysis of the data and MKT has designed the research, wrote the manuscript and analyzed the data.

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Bhardwaj, A.K., Chandra, R.K., Pati, A.K. et al. Seasonal immune rhythm of leukocytes in the freshwater snakehead fish, Channa punctatus. J Comp Physiol B 192, 727–736 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00360-022-01460-7

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