Khan Md Kawsar, Rolff Jens
Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise-Str. 1-3, Berlin, 14195, Germany.
School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, 18 Wally's Walk, North Ryde-2109, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc. 2025 Apr;100(2):698-723. doi: 10.1111/brv.13158. Epub 2024 Nov 5.
Anthropogenic activities result in global change, including climate change, landscape degradation and pollution, that can alter insect physiology and immune defences. These changes may have contributed to global insect decline and the dynamics of insect-transmitted diseases. The ability of insects to mount immune responses upon infection is crucial for defence against pathogens and parasites. Suppressed immune defences reduce fitness by causing disease-driven mortality and elevated immune responses reduce energy available to invest in other fitness traits such as reproduction. Understanding the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect-pathogen interactions is therefore key to determining the contribution of anthropogenic global change to pathogen-driven global insect decline and the emergence and transmission of insect-borne diseases. Here, we synthesise evidence of the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect immunity. We found evidence that anthropogenic factors, such as insecticides and heavy metals, directly impacting insect immune responses by inhibiting immune activation pathways. Alternatively, factors such as global warming, heatwaves, elevated CO and landscape degradation can indirectly reduce insect immune responses via reducing the energy available for immune function. We further review how anthropogenic factors impact pathogen clearance and contribute to an increase in vector-borne diseases. We discuss the fitness cost of anthropogenic factors via pathogen-driven mortality and reduced reproductive output and how this can contribute to species extinction. We found that most research has determined the impact of a single anthropogenic factor on insect immune responses or pathogen resistance. We recommend studying the combined impact of multiple stressors on immune response and pathogen resistance to understand better how anthropogenic factors affect insect immunity. We conclude by highlighting the importance of initiatives to mitigate the impact of anthropogenic factors on insect immunity, to reduce the spread of vector-borne diseases, and to protect vulnerable ecosystems from emerging diseases.
人为活动导致全球变化，包括气候变化、景观退化和污染，这些变化会改变昆虫的生理机能和免疫防御。这些变化可能导致了全球昆虫数量的减少以及虫媒疾病的动态变化。昆虫在感染时产生免疫反应的能力对于抵御病原体和寄生虫至关重要。免疫防御受到抑制会因疾病导致的死亡率上升而降低适应性，而免疫反应增强则会减少可用于投资其他适应性特征（如繁殖）的能量。因此，了解人为因素对昆虫与病原体相互作用的影响是确定人为全球变化对病原体导致的全球昆虫数量减少以及虫媒疾病的出现和传播所起作用的关键。在此，我们综合了人为因素对昆虫免疫力影响的证据。我们发现有证据表明，杀虫剂和重金属等人为因素通过抑制免疫激活途径直接影响昆虫的免疫反应。另外，全球变暖、热浪、一氧化碳浓度升高和景观退化等因素可通过减少可用于免疫功能的能量间接降低昆虫的免疫反应。我们还进一步回顾了人为因素如何影响病原体清除并导致虫媒疾病增加。我们讨论了人为因素通过病原体导致的死亡率和生殖产出减少所带来的适应性成本，以及这如何导致物种灭绝。我们发现，大多数研究都确定了单一人为因素对昆虫免疫反应或病原体抗性的影响。我们建议研究多种压力源对免疫反应和病原体抗性的综合影响，以便更好地了解人为因素如何影响昆虫免疫力。我们最后强调了采取措施减轻人为因素对昆虫免疫力的影响、减少虫媒疾病传播以及保护脆弱生态系统免受新出现疾病侵害的重要性。
