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Effects of parasites and antigenic challenge on metabolic rates and thermoregulation in northern red-backed voles (Myodes rutilus)

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Abstract

Perturbations in host energetics are considered to be an essential pathway for parasite impact on host fitness. However, direct estimations of parasite-induced variations in basal metabolic rates of vertebrate hosts have so far provided contradictory results. The energy requirements of immunity and other vital functions may be compromised in energy-demanding conditions in comparison to comfortable conditions; therefore, in our study performed on the wild red-backed vole, Myodes rutilus, we compared the values of indices that reflect metabolic and thermoregulatory responses to acute cooling in individuals that had been naturally infected by gut helminths or Ixodes persulcatus taiga ticks to individuals with no signs of infestation. To consider the possible effects of an acquired immune response on host energetics, we also injected some of the tested individuals with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). Red-backed voles infected by the nematode Heligmosomum mixtum injected with SRBC showed significantly lower cold-induced maximum oxygen consumption than the saline control. Additionally, individuals infected with H. mixtum showed significantly lower oxygen consumption during the final minute of the 15-min acute cooling period and a significantly greater decline in body temperature than individuals free from helminths. In individuals concurrently infected by H. mixtum and the cestodes Arostrilepis horrida, these indices did not differ from helminth-free individuals. The number of ticks simultaneously parasitizing the voles at the moment of capture correlated positively with their SMR. Our results suggest that even natural parasites produce deleterious effects on host aerobic capacity and thermoregulatory abilities, although the effects of different parasites might not be additive.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Federal Fundamental Scientific Research Programme for 2013–2020 (VI.51.1.6) and the Russian foundation for basal researches (grants 02-04-49253, 13-04-01045). We are grateful to Serge Morand for the fruitful suggestions that improved the manuscript. We thank Victoria Mak for useful methodical advice and Andrey Akulov, Lilia Saval, and Alexander Romashenko for assistance in the collection of field material.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Eugene Novikov, Ekaterina Kondratyuk, Dmitry Petrovski & Anton Krivopalov

  2. Institute of Cytology and Genetic SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Dmitry Petrovski & Mikhail Moshkin

  3. Novosibirsk State Agrarian University, Novosibirsk, Russia

    Eugene Novikov

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  1. Eugene Novikov
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  2. Ekaterina Kondratyuk
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  3. Dmitry Petrovski
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  4. Anton Krivopalov
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  5. Mikhail Moshkin
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Correspondence to Eugene Novikov.

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Novikov, E., Kondratyuk, E., Petrovski, D. et al. Effects of parasites and antigenic challenge on metabolic rates and thermoregulation in northern red-backed voles (Myodes rutilus). Parasitol Res 114, 4479–4486 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4691-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-015-4691-9

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