Department of Biological Sciences, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn Highway, Dayton, Ohio 45435.
Integr Comp Biol. 2002 Feb;42(1):34-42. doi: 10.1093/icb/42.1.34.
Laboratory and field studies have demonstrated that the immune system is sensitive to environmental contaminants. Testing protocols have been developed to screen for immunotoxic effects and elucidate mechanisms of toxicity in laboratory rodents. Similar methods have been applied to wildlife species in captivity and the wild. Several epizootics in wildlife have been associated with elevated exposure to contaminants. This paper discusses immunotoxicological techniques used in studies of avian wildlife. Measurements of immunological structure include peripheral white blood cell counts and the mass and cellularity of immune organs such as the thymus, spleen, and bursa of Fabricius. While contaminants can alter these measures of immunological structure, such measures do not directly assess how the immune system functions, i.e., responds to specific challenges. The two most commonly used in vivo immune function tests in birds are the phytohemagglutinin (PHA) skin response for T cell-mediated immunity and the sheep red blood cell (SRBC) hemagglutination assay for antibody-mediated immunity. In vitro tests of immune function in avian wildlife include proliferation of lymphocytes in response to various mitogens and phagocytosis of fluorescent particles by monocytes. While optimization of in vitro techniques for wildlife species is often time-consuming, these assays usually require only a single blood sample and can elucidate mechanisms of toxicity. In immunological studies of wildlife, investigators should consider factors that may influence immune responses, including age, body condition, date, developmental stage of the immune system, and time required for the progression of immune responses.
实验室和现场研究表明，免疫系统对环境污染物敏感。已经开发出测试方案来筛选免疫毒性效应并阐明实验室啮齿动物的毒性机制。类似的方法已应用于圈养和野外的野生动物物种。几种野生动物的流行病与接触污染物增加有关。本文讨论了用于鸟类野生动物研究的免疫毒理学技术。免疫结构的测量包括外周白细胞计数以及免疫器官（如胸腺、脾脏和法氏囊）的质量和细胞密度。虽然污染物会改变这些免疫结构的测量值，但这些测量值并不能直接评估免疫系统的功能，即对特定挑战的反应。鸟类中最常用的两种体内免疫功能测试是植物血球凝集素（PHA）皮肤反应测试 T 细胞介导的免疫和绵羊红细胞（SRBC）血凝试验测试抗体介导的免疫。鸟类野生动物体外免疫功能测试包括淋巴细胞对各种有丝分裂原的增殖和单核细胞对荧光颗粒的吞噬作用。虽然优化野生动物物种的体外技术通常很耗时，但这些检测通常只需要一个单一的血液样本，并可以阐明毒性机制。在野生动物的免疫学研究中，研究人员应考虑可能影响免疫反应的因素，包括年龄、身体状况、日期、免疫系统的发育阶段以及免疫反应进展所需的时间。
