DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Study of sickness behavior and its costs in relation to immunosenescence

论文研究：疾病行为及其与免疫衰老相关的成本研究

• 批准号: 0808555
• 负责人: Carol Vleck
• 金额: $ 1.11万
• 依托单位: Iowa State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-06-15 至 2010-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0808555&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Study; sickness; behavior

Carol M Vleck & Maria G. PalaciosIOS-0808555, Study of sickness behavior and its costs in relation to immunosenescence.The decline of immune function with age, or immunosenescence, is a pervasive phenomenon in animals. This project is designed to investigate what aspects of immune function are most affected by age in a free-living bird population and what are the consequences for individuals. Tree swallows are the model system because an adequate number of known-aged individuals can be repeatedly sampled and their reproductive success can be easily monitored. The researchers have already shown that the pattern of immunosenescence in tree swallows resembles that of humans. A field experiment will be carried out while swallows are caring for their young to assess the consequences of this aging pattern. Researchers will simulate a pathogenic insult by challenging birds of disparate ages with a non-infectious bacterial component, which elicits sickness responses without causing actual disease. Parental behavior, in the form of chick feeding, will be monitored using video recording and blood samples taken before and after the challenge will allow assessment of hormonal and immunological responses. Chick growth rates and fledging success will be measured. Researchers will test the hypothesis that older, immunosenescent individuals pay higher costs of defense against pathogens than younger ones with the prediction that older individuals will show more extreme sickness responses, both behavioral and physiological, that will result in reduced reproductive success and/or survival compared to young individuals. The project will include training of undergraduate students in the field and in the lab. This research on sickness responses and their effects on reproductive behavior and survival has implications for disease ecology and conservation of threatened/endangered species. In addition, this research will be of general interest to physiologists, gerontologists, and evolutionary ecologists, and of increasing importance to the general public as our population ages.

Carol M Vleck Maria G. PalaciosIOS-0808555，研究疾病行为及其与免疫衰老的关系免疫功能随年龄的下降或免疫衰老是动物中普遍存在的现象。该项目旨在研究在自由生活的鸟类种群中，免疫功能的哪些方面最受年龄的影响，以及对个体的影响。树燕是模型系统，因为足够数量的已知年龄的个人可以重复采样，他们的繁殖成功，可以很容易地监测。研究人员已经表明，树燕的免疫衰老模式与人类相似。在燕子照顾幼崽的同时，将进行一项实地实验，以评估这种衰老模式的后果。研究人员将通过用非传染性细菌成分挑战不同年龄的鸟类来模拟致病性侮辱，这种细菌成分可以激发疾病反应而不会引起实际疾病。将使用视频记录和攻毒前后采集的血样监测亲代行为（以雏鸡喂养的形式），以评估激素和免疫反应。小鸡的生长速度和羽翼丰满的成功将被衡量。研究人员将测试这一假设，即年龄较大的免疫衰老个体比年轻人支付更高的防御病原体的成本，预测老年人将表现出更多的极端疾病反应，包括行为和生理反应，这将导致与年轻人相比，生殖成功和/或生存率降低。该项目将包括在实地和实验室对本科生进行培训。这项关于疾病反应及其对生殖行为和生存的影响的研究对疾病生态学和受威胁/濒危物种的保护具有重要意义。此外，这项研究将引起生理学家、老年学家和进化生态学家的普遍兴趣，随着人口老龄化，这项研究对公众的重要性也越来越大。