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The effect of carotenoid supplementation on immune system development in juvenile male veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus).

ABSTRACT: INTRODUCTION: Nutrient availability, assimilation, and allocation can have important and lasting effects on the immune system development of growing animals. Though carotenoid pigments have immunostimulatory properties in many animals, relatively little is known regarding how they influence the immune system during development. Moreover, studies linking carotenoids to health at any life stage have largely been restricted to birds and mammals. We investigated the effects of carotenoid supplementation on multiple aspects of immunity in juvenile veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus). We supplemented half of the chameleons with lutein (a xanthophyll carotenoid) for 14 weeks during development and serially measured multiple aspects of immune function, including: agglutination and lysis performance of plasma, wound healing, and plasma nitric oxide concentrations before and after wounding. RESULTS: Though lutein supplementation effectively elevated circulating carotenoid concentrations throughout the developmental period, we found no evidence that carotenoid repletion enhanced immune function at any point. However, agglutination and lysis scores increased, while baseline nitric oxide levels decreased, as chameleons aged. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results indicate that body mass and age, but not carotenoid access, may play an important role in immune performance of growing chameleons. Hence, studying well-understood physiological processes in novel taxa can provide new perspectives on alternative physiological processes and nutrient function.

SUBMITTER: McCartney KL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4022081 | biostudies-other | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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The effect of carotenoid supplementation on immune system development in juvenile male veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus).

McCartney Kristen L KL Ligon Russell A RA Butler Michael W MW Denardo Dale F DF McGraw Kevin J KJ

Frontiers in zoology 20140322 1

<h4>Introduction</h4>Nutrient availability, assimilation, and allocation can have important and lasting effects on the immune system development of growing animals. Though carotenoid pigments have immunostimulatory properties in many animals, relatively little is known regarding how they influence the immune system during development. Moreover, studies linking carotenoids to health at any life stage have largely been restricted to birds and mammals. We investigated the effects of carotenoid supp ...[more]

PMID: 24655326

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Project description:BACKGROUND: For many bird species, vision is the primary sensory modality used to locate and assess food items. The health and spectral sensitivities of the avian visual system are influenced by diet-derived carotenoid pigments that accumulate in the retina. Among wild House Finches (Carpodacus mexicanus), we have found that retinal carotenoid accumulation varies significantly among individuals and is related to dietary carotenoid intake. If diet-induced changes in retinal carotenoid accumulation alter spectral sensitivity, then they have the potential to affect visually mediated foraging performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In two experiments, we measured foraging performance of house finches with dietarily manipulated retinal carotenoid levels. We tested each bird's ability to extract visually contrasting food items from a matrix of inedible distracters under high-contrast (full) and dimmer low-contrast (red-filtered) lighting conditions. In experiment one, zeaxanthin-supplemented birds had significantly increased retinal carotenoid levels, but declined in foraging performance in the high-contrast condition relative to astaxanthin-supplemented birds that showed no change in retinal carotenoid accumulation. In experiments one and two combined, we found that retinal carotenoid concentrations predicted relative foraging performance in the low- vs. high-contrast light conditions in a curvilinear pattern. Performance was positively correlated with retinal carotenoid accumulation among birds with low to medium levels of accumulation (?0.5-1.5 µg/retina), but declined among birds with very high levels (>2.0 µg/retina). CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our results suggest that carotenoid-mediated spectral filtering enhances color discrimination, but that this improvement is traded off against a reduction in sensitivity that can compromise visual discrimination. Thus, retinal carotenoid levels may be optimized to meet the visual demands of specific behavioral tasks and light environments.

Project description:The so-called macular carotenoids (MC) lutein (L), zeaxanthin (Z), and meso-zeaxanthin (MZ) comprise the diet-derived macular pigment (MP). The purpose of this study was to determine effects of MC supplementation on the optical density of MP (MPOD), repeated-exposure photostress recovery (PSR), and disability glare (DG) thresholds.This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Fifty-nine young (mean age?=?21.7), healthy volunteers participated in this study. Subjects supplemented their daily diet with either 10 mg L?+?2 mg total Z (1 mg Z?+?1 mg MZ; n?=?24), 20 mg L?+?4 mg total Z (2 mg Z?+?2 mg MZ; n?=?25), or placebo (n?=?10) for 12 months. The primary outcome was a composite measure of visual performance in glare, defined by change in DG and PSR. Secondary outcomes included MPOD and visual fatigue. The primary endpoint for outcomes was 12 months. MPOD was assessed with customized heterochromatic flicker photometry. PSR times for an 8 cycle /degree, 15 % contrast Gabor patch target were determined after each of five successive exposures to intense LED lights. DG threshold was defined as the intensity of a ring of lights through which subjects were able to maintain visibility of the aforementioned target. Measures of all parameters were conducted at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months. Repeated-measures ANOVA, and Pearson product-moment correlations were used to determine statistically significant correlations, and changes within and between groups.MPOD for subjects in both supplementation groups increased significantly versus placebo at both 6- and 12-month visits (p?<?0.001 for all). Additionally, PSR times and DG thresholds improved significantly from baseline compared to placebo at 6- and 12-month visits (p?<?0.001 for all). At baseline, MPOD was significantly related to both DG thresholds (r?=?0.444; p?=?0.0021) and PSR times (r?=?-0.56; p?<?0.001). As a function of MPOD, the repeated-exposure PSR curves became more asymptotic, as opposed to linear. The change in subjects' DG thresholds were significantly related to changes in PSR times across the study period (r?=?-0.534; p?<?0.001).Increases in MPOD lead to significant improvements in PSR times and DG thresholds. The asymptotic shape of the repeated-exposure PSR curves suggests that increases in MPOD produce more consistent steady-state visual performance in bright light conditions. The mechanism for this effect may involve both the optical filtering and biochemical (antioxidant) properties of MP.ISRCTN trial registration number: ISRCTN54990825. Data reported in this manuscript represent secondary outcome measures from the registered trial.

Dataset Information

The effect of carotenoid supplementation on immune system development in juvenile male veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus).

Publications

The effect of carotenoid supplementation on immune system development in juvenile male veiled chameleons (Chamaeleo calyptratus).

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