Journal
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
Volume 219, Issue 13, Pages 1965-1968Publisher
COMPANY OF BIOLOGISTS LTD
DOI: 10.1242/jeb.138123
Keywords
Cornsnake; Hemoagglutination; Hemolysis; Immune function; Specific dynamic action; Tradeoff
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Funding
- Georgia Southern University
- Lafayette College
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Following a meal, an animal can exhibit dramatic shifts in physiology and morphology, as well as a substantial increase in metabolic rate associated with the energetic costs of processing a meal (i.e. specific dynamic action, SDA). However, little is known about the effects of digestion on another important physiological and energetically costly trait: immune function. Thus, we tested two competing hypotheses. (1) Digesting animals up-regulate their immune systems (putatively in response to the increased microbial exposure associated with ingested food). (2) Digesting animals down-regulate their immune systems (presumably to allocate energy to the breakdown of food). We assayed innate immunity (lytic capacity and agglutination) in cornsnakes (Pantherophis guttatus) during and after meal digestion. Lytic capacity was higher in females, and (in support of our first hypothesis) agglutination was higher during absorption. Given its potential energetic cost, immune up-regulation may contribute to SDA.
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