Doctoral Dissertation Research: Affiliative Social Relationships and Immune Function in Primates

大多数灵长类动物是社会性物种，社会性带来了利益和代价。这个博士论文项目将评估社会纽带塑造灵长类动物幸福的潜在机制。研究人员将研究行为、激素、免疫功能和病原体之间的相互作用，以确定更强的社会联系是否与更好的免疫功能和更低的生理压力相关。这项研究的发现将为理解我们自己物种的社会性提供一个比较模型。该项目还将促进科学教育推广和学生培训、灵长类动物保护工作以及国际合作的发展。该项目将调查乌干达基巴莱国家公园恩戈戈野生黑猩猩的社会缓冲--这是迄今为止研究过的最大的野生黑猩猩社区。为了评估社会纽带的生理学和免疫学相关性，研究人员将测量二元纽带强度、糖皮质激素（其反映对压力的生理反应，并且当长期升高时，损害免疫功能）、催产素（与社会纽带相关的九肽，其也可能减弱糖皮质激素分泌）、免疫激活的标志物（即，尿新蝶呤和体温），以及病原体感染的存在。研究人员将非侵入性地收集50只成年和青少年黑猩猩的行为观察、尿液和粪便。然后将分析激素和免疫生物标志物，并对传染性病原体进行测序。

Most primates are social species, and sociality comes with both benefits and costs. This doctoral dissertation project will assess underlying mechanisms by which social bonds shape well-being in primates. The investigator will study the interaction of behavior, hormones, immune function, and pathogens, to see whether stronger social bonds are associated with better immune function and lower physiological stress. The findings from this study will provide a comparative model for understanding sociality in our own species. The project will also further science education outreach and student training, primate conservation efforts, and development of international collaborations.This project will investigate social buffering in wild chimpanzees at Ngogo, Kibale National Park, Uganda - the largest wild chimpanzee community ever studied. To assess the physiological and immunological correlates of social bonds, the investigators will measure dyadic bond strength, glucocorticoids (which reflect physiological reactions to stress and, when chronically elevated, impair immune function), oxytocin (a nonapeptide correlated with social bonding that may also attenuate glucocorticoid secretion), markers of immune activation (i.e., urinary neopterin and body temperature), and the presence of pathogenic infection. The investigators will noninvasively collect behavioral observations, urine, and feces from 50 adult and adolescent chimpanzees. Hormones and immune biomarkers will then be analyzed and infectious agents will be sequenced.