Constitutive immune function is not associated with fuel stores in spring migrating passerine birds.

ABSTRACT: Migratory birds may either upregulate their immune system during migration as they might encounter novel pathogens or downregulate their immune system as a consequence of trade-offs with the resource costs of migration. Support for the latter comes not least from a study that reports a positive correlation in autumn migrating birds between fuel stores and parameters of innate and acquired immune function, that is, energy-exhausted migrants appear to have lowered immune function. However, to our knowledge, no study has tested whether this pattern exists in spring migrating birds, which may face other trade-offs than autumn migrants. Here, we investigate if in spring there is a relationship between fuel stores and microbial-killing ability, a measure of innate immune function, and total immu

SUBMITTER: Ronanki S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11199120 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature