Hormones, Immunocompetence, and Coloniality

动物行为计划非技术摘要标题： 激素、免疫活性和集落PI： Brown，Charles R.提案编号： 9974733Dr.布朗将研究社会环境如何影响动物的类固醇激素水平，以及这些激素如何影响其免疫反应，在殖民鸟类，悬崖燕子。 目的是确定（1）群体大小与激素睾酮和皮质酮水平之间是否存在关系;（2）社会互动（压力）如何与激素水平相关;（3）激素水平与免疫功能之间是否存在关系;以及（4）寄生虫如何影响激素水平和免疫功能。 将采集血液样本进行激素分析，并在野外对自由生活的个人进行免疫反应测试。 行为互动，如战斗将被观察。 将进行简单的免疫测试，以测量鸟类的免疫反应。 将占据吸血体外寄生虫已被去除的鸟巢的鸟类的激素水平和免疫反应与自然感染的鸟巢中的鸟类进行比较。这项研究将是研究激素水平如何影响群体生活进化的第一次尝试。 研究结果应该会让我们对社会性进化的原因和社会群体规模的差异这一鲜为人知的问题有新的认识。 这项研究将是第一个解决激素在自然条件下如何影响免疫能力的研究。如果两者之间存在联系，研究结果将具有潜在的深远生物医学意义。

Animal Behavior ProgramNon-technical AbstractTitle: Hormones, immunocompetence, and colonialityPI: Brown, Charles R.Proposal #: 9974733Dr. Brown will study how the social environment affects levels of an animal's steroid hormones, and how these hormones may affect its immune response, in a colonial bird, the cliff swallow. The objectives are to determine (1) if there is a relationship between group size and levels of the hormones testosterone and corticosterone; (2) how social interaction (stress) is related to hormone levels; (3) if there is a relationship between hormone levels and immune function; and (4) how parasites affect hormone levels and immune function. Blood samples will be taken for hormone analysis and immune response tests done in the field on free-living individuals. Behavioral interactions such as fighting will be observed. Simple immunological tests will be performed to measure the birds' immune responses. Hormone levels and immune responses of birds occupying nests in which blood- sucking ectoparasites have been removed will be compared to those of birds in naturally infested nests. This study will be the first attempt to study how hormone levels influence the evolution of group living. The results should lead to new insight into the poorly understood problem of why sociality evolves and why social groups vary in size. This study will be the first to address how hormones affect immune ability under natural conditions. If there is a link, the results will have potentially far-reaching biomedical implications.