Lavoie Emma T, Sorrell Erin M, Perez Daniel R, Ottinger Mary Ann
Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
Dev Comp Immunol. 2007;31(4):407-14. doi: 10.1016/j.dci.2006.07.009. Epub 2006 Sep 20.
We evaluated juvenile, pubescent, reproductive adult, and aged Japanese quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica) to determine if there were age-related differences in immune function with the hypothesis that aged birds would have weaker immune responses. Immune responses were measured using phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin test, antibody response to foreign red blood cells and exposure to an H9N2 influenza virus. Adult birds consistently had stronger immune responses than young and aged birds. Aged quail had skin responses 38% lower than adults. Pubescent birds' mean anti-red blood cell response was four-fold lower than adult birds. Adults had greater increase in total anti-viral antibody between primary and secondary infections than all other groups. Our data demonstrate an age-related difference in immune function in Japanese quail that has similarities to age-related immunity in humans; younger and older animals had weaker immune responses compared to young adults.
我们评估了幼年、青春期、成年繁殖期和老年日本鹌鹑（Coturnix coturnix japonica），以确定免疫功能是否存在与年龄相关的差异，并假设老年鸟类的免疫反应会较弱。使用植物血凝素（PHA）皮肤试验、对外源红细胞的抗体反应以及接触H9N2流感病毒来测量免疫反应。成年鸟类的免疫反应始终比幼年和老年鸟类更强。老年鹌鹑的皮肤反应比成年鹌鹑低38%。青春期鸟类的平均抗红细胞反应比成年鸟类低四倍。与所有其他组相比，成年鸟类在初次感染和二次感染之间的总抗病毒抗体增加更多。我们的数据表明，日本鹌鹑的免疫功能存在与年龄相关的差异，这与人类与年龄相关的免疫有相似之处；与年轻成年动物相比，幼年和老年动物的免疫反应较弱。
