All living organisms are subject to some form of stress, which in medical terms is a response oftl1e body to a wide range of external s~~uli. This may be physiological or psychological in nature. Objective, quantitative and meaningful me~ures of stress are important to stud~es in many branches of vertebrate biology including humanbiology, animal husbandry and wildlife ecology. The effects of stress in animals have previously been assessed using a variety oftecJ:niques, such as me.asurement of cortisol, haematological values and behavioural observations. The aim ofthis study was to develop and validate novel techniques for quantifying stress·by directly measuring the immune response. Transport significantly reduced the number of cir~ulatingleukocytes (F2,24 = 5.4, . . P<0.05). The changes in neutrophil n~bers may have- occurred as a result of an alteration in adhesion receptors on the neutrophils (L-selectin; integrins and PSGL-l P-Selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-I) or the endothelium (p-selectin; Intracellular Adhesion·Molecule 1). Transport stress had a significant effect on baseline neutrophil activation (F2,19 = 12.4, P<O.OOI), activation was lowestin non-transported aninials and highest immediately after transport, however transport stress did not have a significant effect on plasma antioxidant capacity.. This suggests that badgers possess enough antioxidant defences and oxidative damage is not likely to occur. Stress also significantly reduced the potential ofcirculating leukocytes to ·produce oxygen free radicals (F3,51=6.98, p<O.OOI). A significant decrease in plasma cortisol (Fl,28=4~67l; P<0.05) and testosterone (Fl,42=16.68, p <0.001) concentrations after transport was also observed. It is clear that.conservation interventions such as trapping, translocation and radiocollaring have an impact on their ~ubjects; there are many different methods to monitor stress induced immunosuppression, although the best way to achieve this is to combine different methods: Some techniques may be more appropriate than others depending on the species being studied.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:486899 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Montes, I. |
| Publisher | Coventry University |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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