ScienceDaily (28 October 2010) – strong immunity can play a key role in establishing long but may do life, which at the expense of reduced fertility, has completed a study Princeton University. An 11-year study of a population of wild sheep is on a remote island off the coast of Scotland, the animal susceptibility Tremošná new insight into why some people get sicker than others when they are subjected to the same disease.
The answer to this medical puzzle can be deeply rooted differences in how animals survive and reproduce under the authority of Princeton in the wild, according to the study, ecologist Andrea Graham and in the Oct. 29 edition of science published few study showed that people over the years the sheep has maintained a balance of those with weaker and stronger immunity and fertility.
“This is a groundbreaking study that will change our entire understanding of the Immunoheterogenity in animal populations, in my opinion,” said Peter Hudson, Willaman Professor of biology and Director of the life sciences at Penn State. “Graham and colleagues show that above and disadvantages beautifully in the immune system as compensation…, which maximizes the reproductive output.”
Graham, Assistant Professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Princeton University, at the University of Edinburgh, led studies of wild Soay sheep on the remote island of Hirta St. Kilda Islands, about 100 miles west of the Scottish mainland. Scientists tested the animals for the levels of antibodies, natural molecules produced sheep caused by the immune system to fight infection like flu or parasitic worms.
The sheep who lived their blood to most antibodies contained the longest, researchers found.These animals were also likely to heavy winter überleben.Allerdings could you produce, as many offspring each as other sheep spring. Sheep with lower levels of antibodies tend to earlier dying, you found, but also more lambs gave birth each year.
Considered with regard to breeding and ultimately, evolutionary success, the different types of sheep were equally successful that produziert.Das general balance that researchers said could the default certificate but less fertile sheep and the shorter lived but more fertile sheep have the same number of offspring in their lifetime help explain why immunity varies so much between individuals.
“The tendency to form strong or weak responses to infection ran into families residing in the sheep, the researchers have also found.”This genetic basis means that natural selection has chance to make the feature “, said Graham.If responses to infection result in equal long-term reproductive success, different you said means “selection actually seems they preserve genetic variation in immunity.”
Such a balance could help to explain why some vaccines seem better than protect others or why some people get sicker than others when they are subjected to the same infection.
“We had long suspected have, strong immune response to extend life in the face of infections should reproduction, but may also expensive”, Graham said.”To find evidence of such compromise clarify, can vary why animals so much in the strength of their immune responses and even your tendency to infections or autoimmunity.”
The technique used, to study Immunology in the wild was crucial for the importance of the study, after Lynn Martin, Assistant Professor at the Department of integrative biology at the University of South Florida.
“”For so long, the field of Immunology based on studies of domesticated animals in clean lab environments where animals are given all the food you want protection from the elements and a few no challenges with parasites,”Martin said.”"These terms and conditions are our understanding of immune functions great detail as to hosts with parasites on the molecular and cellular level, but are not representative of the natural conditions and can bias.”
The study affect also autoimmunity, where the body such a strong immune response exhibits, that it his own tissue angreift.Die study suggests that autoimmunity, seen in such human diseases as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, also occur in nature. This aspect of the study must be investigated further, said Graham.
“The study is important, according to Andrew read, Professor of biology and Entomology, at Penn State, because it shows that the immunity can both to increase and reduce the evolutionary success depending on the circumstances.”This is a really great example of the power of the long-term environmental studies “, said read, an expert in evolutionary genetics of infectious diseases.”
Authors on the paper include Watt, Jill Pilkington, Josephine Pemberton and Daniel Nussey, Graham Adam Hayward, Kathryn all of the University of Edinburgh.
The research was established by the national trust for Scotland, United Kingdom of natural environmental research Council and the UK biotechnology and biological of Sciences Research Council funded.
Editor’s note: This article is not intended, medical advice, provide diagnosis or treatment.
Story source:
The above story is provided by the Princeton University (with editorial adjustments by ScienceDaily staff) abgedruckt.Die original article from materials was written by keta MacPherson.
Journal reference:
Andrea L. Graham, Adam D. Hayward, Kathryn A. Watts, Jill G. Pilkington, Josephine M. Pemberton, Daniel H. Nussey.Fitness correlates of inheritable variation in antibody response in a mammals.Science, 29 October 2010: vol.330.Nr. 6004, pp. 662-665 DOI: 10.1126/science.1194878
Note: If no author is specified, instead cites the source.
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