Gender differences in the immune system activities of sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus

Abstract

In the immune system of vertebrates, gender-specific differences in individual immune competence are well known. In general, females possess more powerful immune response than males. In invertebrates, the situation is much less clear. For this purpose we have chosen to study the immune response of the two sexes of the echinoderm Paracentrotus lividus in pre-and post-spawning phases. The coelomic fluid from the echinoderms contains several coelomocyte types and molecules involved in innate immune defenses. In this article we report that the degree of immune responses in the P. lividus differs according to sex in both pre-and post-spawning phases. We found in all tests that females were more active than males. The results indicate that females possess a significant higher number of immunocytes consisting of phagocytes and uncolored spherulocytes. Since the immunological activity is mainly based on immunocytes, it was not surprising that females possessed the highest values of cytotoxicity and hemolysis activity and showed a greater ability to uptake neutral red and phagocyte yeasts cells, while the average number of ingested particles per active phagocyte was not significantly different. Furthermore, agglutinating activity was more evident in the coelomocyte lysate and coelomic fluid of females than in those of males. Finally we found that the acidic extract of female gonads possessed greater antimicrobial activity than that of male gonads. These results make it very likely that gender differences in the immune response are not restricted to vertebrates; rather, they are a general evolutionary phenomenon.

3-Amino-4-aminoximidofurazan derivatives: small molecules possessing antimicrobial and antibiofilm activity againstStaphylococcus aureusandPseudomonas aeruginosa

“…The efficient application of any therapeutic drug depends on its nontoxicity or very less toxicity against red blood cells (Arizza et al . ). To examine the effect of the synthetic derivatives on R.B.C, extent of haemolysis in the presence and absence of the drugs were measured.…”

“…The packed erythrocytes obtained at bottom were washed three times with sterile PBS and also suspended in PBS to obtain a suspension of 80 × 10 6 cells ml −1 (Arizza et al . ). Aliquots of 200 μ l of erythrocytes suspension were mixed with 200 μ l of the synthetic compounds ( PI1–4 ) at their sub‐MIC dose.…”

Immune mediators of sea-cucumber Holothuria tubulosa (Echinodermata) as source of novel antimicrobial and anti-staphylococcal biofilm agents

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In vitro effect of cadmium and copper on separated blood leukocytes of Dicentrarchus labrax

“…The amount of dye released from the cells is proportional to their vitality. The NRU evaluation was performed, with slight modification, as previously described (Arizza et al, 2013). The cell monolayers from nine fishes, after treatment with metals, were incubated with 200 ml of 0.2 percent neutral red in HBSS for 2 h at 18 1C in double.…”