Functional analysis of the skin-swelling response to phytohaemagglutinin

0342466 - ÚBO 2011 RIV GB eng J - Journal Article
Vinkler, Michal - Bainová, H. - Albrecht, Tomáš
Functional analysis of the skin-swelling response to phytohaemagglutinin.
Functional Ecology. Roč. 24, č. 5 (2010), s. 1081-1086. ISSN 0269-8463. E-ISSN 1365-2435
R&D Projects: GA ČR GA206/08/1281; GA ČR GA206/08/0640; GA MŠMT LC06073
Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60930519
Keywords : avian innate and adaptive immunity * ecoimmunology * ecological immunology * ecotoxicology * inflammatory response * PHA-induced hypersensitivity * phytohaemagglutinin * T-cell-mediated immunocompetence
Subject RIV: EG - Zoology
Impact factor: 4.645, year: 2010

The phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) skin-swelling test is widely used in immunoecology and ecotoxicology to estimate cell-mediated immunity presumed to reveal T-cell mediated immunocompetence. To investigate the mechanism triggering this response we have compared in zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) the immune responses to two PHA isolectins (PHA-L and PHA-E) differing in their biological properties and one control protein. This is the first study to show the importance of erythroagglutination in the development of an inflammatory response to PHA-P. Our results indicate that the skin-swelling test using PHA-P reliably mirrors the individual general proinflammatory potential. The immunological background of the test is highly complex and the test results cannot be interpreted as measurements of the adaptive immunity or T-cell activity. This interpretational change importantly alters our view on the test results regarding the costs of the response or the evolutionary immunological adaptations.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0185197