Meeting Abstract
Activation of the innate immune system is costly and can result in an energetic deficit for other physiological processes, such as reproduction. Both immunity and reproduction can induce a suite of physiological changes, including an increase in metabolic rate. A byproduct of metabolism is the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which have the potential to cause cellular damage and early senescence. It is unclear how competition between the immune and reproductive systems influence metabolic rate, and how simultaneous investment between reproduction and immunity relates to metabolic and oxidative costs in females. Here, we immune challenged 77 wild-caught female side-blotched lizards (Uta stansburiana) varying in reproductive stage with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a non-pathogenic mitogen that induces an immune response, and measured the effects on standard metabolic rate, innate immune function (BKA), and oxidative capacity (both antioxidants and reactive oxygen species). Understanding the metabolic and oxidative costs of immunity and how they may vary depending on reproductive status (and the tradeoffs therein) is crucial to understanding how life history traits evolve in animal populations.
