Abstract
In this study we investigate whether present-day variation in a key component of the immune system (baseline leucocyte concentrations) represents evolutionary adaptation to ecological factors. In particular, we test three hypotheses, namely that leucocyte concentrations will be positively related to one of the following: risk of disease transmission between hosts, which is related to host abundance (hypothesis 1), risk of disease infection from the environment due to parasite viability and abundance (hypothesis 2), and risk of injury and subsequent infection, for example following attacks by predators (hypothesis 3). No support was found for hypothesis 1: neither population density nor group size were associated with variation in leucocyte concentrations. Hypothesis 2 was supported: for both sexes, lymphocyte and phagocyte concentrations were positively correlated with annual rainfall, as predicted if interspecific variation in the immune system is related to parasite prevalence (primates suffer higher rates of parasitism in wetter habitats). Support was also provided for hypothesis 3: for both males and females, platelet concentrations were negatively related to body mass, as predicted if injury risk affects immune system evolution, because animals with larger body mass have a relatively lower surface area available to injury. Additional support was provided for hypothesis 3 by the finding that for males, the sex which plays the active role in troop defence and retaliation against predators, concentration of platelets was positively correlated with rate of predation. In conclusion, our analysis suggests that the risk of disease infection from the environment and the risk of injury have played a key role in immune system evolution among anthropoid primates.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (239.0 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Bennett P. M., Gascoyne S. C., Hart M. G., Kirkwood J. K., Hawkey C. M. Development of LYNX: a computer application for disease diagnosis and health monitoring in wild mammals, birds and reptiles. Vet Rec. 1991 May 25;128(21):496–499. doi: 10.1136/vr.128.21.496. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Capitanio J. P., Mendoza S. P., McChesney M. Influences of blood sampling procedures on basal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal hormone levels and leukocyte values in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). J Med Primatol. 1996 Jan;25(1):26–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0684.1996.tb00189.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hamilton W. D., Zuk M. Heritable true fitness and bright birds: a role for parasites? Science. 1982 Oct 22;218(4570):384–387. doi: 10.1126/science.7123238. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Nunn C. L., Gittleman J. L., Antonovics J. Promiscuity and the primate immune system. Science. 2000 Nov 10;290(5494):1168–1170. doi: 10.1126/science.290.5494.1168. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- doi: 10.1098/rspb.1998.0431. [DOI] [PMC free article] [Google Scholar]
- Purvis A. A composite estimate of primate phylogeny. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1995 Jun 29;348(1326):405–421. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1995.0078. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Purvis A., Rambaut A. Comparative analysis by independent contrasts (CAIC): an Apple Macintosh application for analysing comparative data. Comput Appl Biosci. 1995 Jun;11(3):247–251. doi: 10.1093/bioinformatics/11.3.247. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Smith R. J., Jungers W. L. Body mass in comparative primatology. J Hum Evol. 1997 Jun;32(6):523–559. doi: 10.1006/jhev.1996.0122. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Sorci G., Morand S., Hugot J. P. Host-parasite coevolution: comparative evidence for covariation of life history traits in primates and oxyurid parasites. Proc Biol Sci. 1997 Feb 22;264(1379):285–289. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1997.0040. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Stuart M. D., Greenspan L. L., Glander K. E., Clarke M. R. A coprological survey of parasites of wild mantled howling monkeys, Alouatta palliata palliata. J Wildl Dis. 1990 Oct;26(4):547–549. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-26.4.547. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Suzuki S., Toyabe S., Moroda T., Tada T., Tsukahara A., Iiai T., Minagawa M., Maruyama S., Hatakeyama K., Endoh K. Circadian rhythm of leucocytes and lymphocytes subsets and its possible correlation with the function of the autonomic nervous system. Clin Exp Immunol. 1997 Dec;110(3):500–508. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2249.1997.4411460.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wolfe N. D., Escalante A. A., Karesh W. B., Kilbourn A., Spielman A., Lal A. A. Wild primate populations in emerging infectious disease research: the missing link? Emerg Infect Dis. 1998 Apr-Jun;4(2):149–158. doi: 10.3201/eid0402.980202. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]