An immune challenge affects growth dynamics, oxidative stress and survival in wild spotless starling nestlings.

ABSTRACT: The activation of the immune system in response to a pathogen infection can impose significant costs on growth and oxidative stress. Developing individuals are particularly vulnerable to this challenge, as their physiological systems are still maturing and their rapid growth to achieve an optimal size is resource demanding. Here, we investigated the costs in terms of growth and oxidative stress of an experimentally induced immune challenge in wild spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) nestlings. To this aim, individuals were injected with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), an antigen that triggers an immune response, or a control substance (PBS) in a within-brood design. Although the immune activation impaired the rate of body mass gain within the first 6 h after the challenge, nestlings subsequentl

SUBMITTER: Parejo-Pulido D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12377811 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature