Meeting Abstract
P3.124 Sunday, Jan. 6 IG Y INDEX VARIATION THROUGHOUT A FAST-REFEEDING PERIOD IN COMMON PIGEON (Columba livia) MOLINA-MARINO, L*; LOPEZ-CATIVA, L; CAVIEDES-VIDAL, E; Univ Nac de San Luis – Consejo Nac de Inv Científicas y Técnicas; Univ Nac de San Luis; Univ Nac de San Luis – Consejo Nac de Inv Científicas y Técnicas enrique.caviedes@gmail.com
Humoral immunity, antibody-mediated, is the aspect of the immune system that stands in defense against extracellular pathogens and toxin neutralization among other functions. The most abundant isotype in blood is IgY. One way to characterize the humoral status of an individual is to evaluate the profile of Ig Y under different conditions. In this study we assessed the IgY index of the common pigeon along a fast-refed trial. Pigeons (N =11) received water ad lib and were fasted until a body mass loss of 30-35 % (day F) of the initial day (day 0). Then, birds were refed until they reached their initial body mass (day RF). On days 0, F and RF plasma samples were obtained. We performed an ELISA using different dilutions (1/2500 to 1/20000) of plasma and anti chicken IgY HRP conjugated antibody (1/250). Dilution of plasma gave the same proportional response for each treatment (P=0.91). The effect of nutritional status on the index IgY resulted in a significant difference (F2,84=6.99 P<0.002). Ig Y index significantly diminished (28 % P<0.05) between day 0 (when birds fed ad libitum) and day F (when birds lost 30% of their body mass). Following the refed period (day RF), a 20.8 increase in the IgY index was observed, though this difference was not significant from both day0 and day RF birds. It is interesting that birds even after recovering their initial body masses did not recover completely their initial IgY levels, though a clear trend is observed. Dietary restriction reduces circulating IgY, probably as a mechanism for energy conservation due to other vital functions. This marked decrease in immune system component decline the pigeon’s immune capacity and would make these birds potentially more susceptible to infection. Funded by PICT97-01320 to EC-V
