Ramirez-Otarola Natalia, Espinoza Janyra, Kalergis Alexis M, Sabat Pablo
Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile, Casilla 653, Santiago, Chile.
Millennium Institute on Immunology and Immunotherapy, Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
J Therm Biol. 2018 Jan;71:17-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jtherbio.2017.10.005. Epub 2017 Oct 25.
Environmental temperature is a variable that influences all aspects of organisms, from physiological, e.g. immune function, and morphological traits to behavior. Recent studies have reported that environmental temperature modulates organisms' thermoregulatory capacity and immune response, suggesting that trade-offs must be made between thermoregulation and immune function. Despite this, studies that evaluate this trade-off in developing endotherms are scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of environmental temperature experienced during development on the response to an antigen and its energetic costs in the precocial rodent Octodon degus. To accomplish this, we acclimated pups from birth to weaning at temperatures of 15°C and 30°C. At weaning, animals were inoculated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cytokine interleukin-1β levels, sickness behavior, changes in body temperature and basal metabolic rate, and body mass were measured. Our results showed that environmental temperature influences cytokine levels, body temperature, and some aspects of sickness behavior. Specifically, acclimatization at 30°C has a suppressive effect on the response to LPS, possibly due to a control to avoid overproduction of interleukin-1β. Body mass and basal metabolic rate were not affected by environmental temperature experienced during development, but inoculation with LPS affected both variables. Our results suggest that ambient temperature may be a key factor that affects the response to an antigen in pups of O. degus; however, no evidence of a trade-off between thermoregulation and immune function was found here.
环境温度是一个影响生物体各个方面的变量，从生理方面（如免疫功能）、形态特征到行为。最近的研究报告称，环境温度会调节生物体的体温调节能力和免疫反应，这表明在体温调节和免疫功能之间必须进行权衡。尽管如此，评估发育中的恒温动物这种权衡的研究却很少。本研究的目的是评估发育过程中所经历的环境温度对早熟啮齿动物八齿鼠对抗抗原的反应及其能量消耗的影响。为了实现这一目标，我们将幼崽从出生到断奶分别在15°C和30°C的温度下进行驯化。断奶时，给动物接种脂多糖（LPS），并测量细胞因子白细胞介素-1β水平、疾病行为、体温变化、基础代谢率和体重。我们的结果表明，环境温度会影响细胞因子水平、体温和疾病行为的某些方面。具体而言，在30°C下驯化对LPS反应有抑制作用，这可能是由于一种控制机制以避免白细胞介素-1β过度产生。体重和基础代谢率不受发育过程中所经历的环境温度影响，但接种LPS会影响这两个变量。我们的结果表明，环境温度可能是影响八齿鼠幼崽对抗抗原反应的一个关键因素；然而，在此未发现体温调节和免疫功能之间存在权衡的证据。
