Age-Related Relationships between Innate Immunity and Plasma Carotenoids in an Obligate Avian Scavenger.

ABSTRACT: Variation in immunity is influenced by allocation trade-offs that are expected to change between age-classes as a result of the different environmental and physiological conditions that individuals encounter over their lifetime. One such trade-off occurs with carotenoids, which must be acquired with food and are involved in a variety of physiological functions. Nonetheless, relationships between immunity and carotenoids in species where these micronutrients are scarce due to diet are poorly studied. Among birds, vultures show the lowest concentrations of plasma carotenoids due to a diet based on carrion. Here, we investigated variations in the relationships between innate immunity (hemagglutination by natural antibodies and hemolysis by complement proteins), pathogen infection and plasma c

SUBMITTER: Lopez-Rull I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4636298 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature