Refining approaches and diversifying directions in ecoimmunology
Refining approaches and diversifying directions in ecoimmunology
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DOI：
10.1093/icb/icl039
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发表时间：
2006-12-01
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Nelson, Randy J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Martin, Lynn B., II;Weil, Zachary M.;Nelson, Randy J.
生态免疫学家对野生动物的免疫系统有许多重要的发现，包括（1）免疫活动通常是昂贵的，（2）免疫活动的反直觉递减往往是由于与其他生理活动或行为的权衡，（3）免疫活动是一种货币，通过它性选择性状是个体质量的指标。然而，使用单一检测来表征“免疫活性”，过去和现在都是生态免疫学的常见做法，忽略了免疫系统的固有复杂性，可能导致不适当的结论，甚至是正面的出版偏见。最近，一些人建议生态免疫学家测量疾病抵抗力或免疫损伤的健康后果，而不是免疫系统本身。我们建议研究人员继续使用已经在生态免疫学中取得丰硕成果的技术，但更好地将这些技术的基础免疫生理学纳入他们的研究设计和解释中。我们回顾了这种方法的好处和最近的一些成功。然后，我们讨论了生态免疫学的几个未被充分探索但潜在有益的领域，包括免疫系统的发育，免疫衰老和免疫分布。所有这三个领域在生物医学方面都得到了很好的研究，并且可能与生态环境有关。例如，由于免疫防御和繁殖的固有成本，免疫系统发育和衰老速率的变化可能会影响不同物种个体成熟和/或繁殖的方式。同样，不同的能力，重新分配免疫资源，以应对内分泌系统内的变化，可能会解释一些关于性选择的免疫功能障碍假说的不一致。
Ecoimmunologists have made many important discoveries about the immune systems of wild animals including (1) immune activity is usually costly, (2) counter-intuitive decrements in immune activity are often due to trade-offs with other physiological activities or behaviors, and (3) immune activity is a currency by which sexually selected traits are indices of individual quality. The use of single assays to characterize "immunocompetence," however, as was, and is, the common practice in ecoimmunology, ignores the inherent complexity of the immune system and may have led to inappropriate conclusions or even positive publication bias. Recently, some have suggested that ecoimmunologists measure disease resistance or the fitness consequences of immunological insults instead of the immune system itself. We propose that researchers continue to use the techniques that have already been fruitful in ecoimmunology, but better incorporate the underlying immunophysiology of such techniques into their study designs and interpretation. We review the benefits and some recent successes of such an approach. Then, we discuss several under-explored but potentially rewarding areas of ecoimmunology, including development of the immune system, immunosenescence, and immunoredistribution. All three areas are well studied in biomedicine and are likely to be relevant in ecological contexts. For instance, because of the inherent costliness of immune defense and reproduction, variation in rates of development and senescence of the immune system likely impacts the ways in which individuals of different species mature and/or breed. Likewise, differential capacity to redistribute immune resources in response to changes within the endocrine system may explain some of the inconsistencies regarding the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis of sexual selection.