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Cell-mediated immunosenescence in birds

  • Ecophysiology
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Abstract

The phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) skin test response, used to assess cell-mediated immunity, is known to vary with many social and energetic factors, but the effects of age have received little attention. We found that the PHA response of immature birds was lower than those of the youngest breeding adults and were decreased in adults. Whenever possible, age should be included as a covariate when the PHA skin test is used to assess immunocompetence in ecological immunology. The rate of decline in PHA response differed between species and was inversely correlated with survival. The decrease in the PHA response averaged 57% over an average 80% of the maximum life span, but the absolute rate varied with species lifespan such that the short-lived species showed a greater loss per year than the long-lived species. This link between declining immune function and survival may reflect differences in resource partitioning between species, and suggests that selection may act on investment in immune function to influence maximum life span.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Amber Cribbs, Alexis Blackmer and Nathaniel Wheelwright for assistance in the field, and Corey Freeman-Gallant for other assistance. This work was supported in part by a Cooper Ornithological Society, Joseph Grinnell Student Research Award for Basic Biological Avian Research to MFH, NIH Grant, RO3 AG022207 to Carol M. Vleck, and NSF grant, IBN-013437 to David W. Winkler. This manuscript represents contribution no. 165 from the Bowdoin Scientific Station. All procedures described were approved by the Iowa State University Committee on Animal Care (COAC, 5-04-5653-Q) and are in compliance with the United States of America’s laws and policies governing the care and use of live vertebrate animals in research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 50011, USA

    Mark F. Haussmann, David Vleck, Carrie E. Sanneman & Carol M. Vleck

  2. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    David W. Winkler

  3. Harpswell, Maine, 04079, USA

    Charles E. Huntington

  4. Department of Animal Behavior, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, 17837, USA

    Daniel Hanley

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  1. Mark F. Haussmann
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  2. David W. Winkler
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  3. Charles E. Huntington
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  4. David Vleck
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  5. Carrie E. Sanneman
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  7. Carol M. Vleck
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Correspondence to Mark F. Haussmann.

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Communicated by Mark Chappell

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Haussmann, M.F., Winkler, D.W., Huntington, C.E. et al. Cell-mediated immunosenescence in birds. Oecologia 145, 269–274 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0123-3

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