Kennedy Malcolm W, Nager Ruedi G
Division of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK, G12 8QQ.
Trends Ecol Evol. 2006 Dec;21(12):653-5. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2006.09.017. Epub 2006 Oct 6.
Several techniques are available for quantifying the vertebrate immune response, information that is particularly useful for understanding the contribution of immunity to the evolution of life-history strategies. The most widely used is the phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) skin-swelling technique, which is usually regarded as an index of acquired immunity. However, our understanding of the effects of PHA in skin is poor, despite the fact that it has implications for what the test can tell us about immune activity. As we discuss here, a recent study by Martin and colleagues on the response to PHA at the cellular level in wild birds has highlighted the relative extent to which PHA-induced swelling, as most commonly applied, measures innate immunity versus acquired immunity.
有几种技术可用于量化脊椎动物的免疫反应，这些信息对于理解免疫对生活史策略进化的贡献特别有用。最广泛使用的是植物血凝素（PHA）皮肤肿胀技术，该技术通常被视为获得性免疫的指标。然而，尽管PHA对皮肤的影响对该测试能告诉我们的免疫活动有影响，但我们对其了解甚少。正如我们在此所讨论的，马丁及其同事最近对野生鸟类细胞水平上对PHA的反应进行的一项研究，突出了最常用的PHA诱导肿胀在衡量先天免疫与获得性免疫方面的相对程度。
