Linking stress and immunity: Immunoglobulin A as a non-invasive physiological biomarker in animal welfare studies

Staley, Molly; Conners, Melinda G.; Hall, Katie; Miller, Lance J.

doi:10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.04.011

Cited by 66 publications

(92 citation statements)

References 140 publications

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“…Recently, immunoglobulin A (IgA) has been proposed as a novel biomarker for welfare assessments of wildlife species [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], including Asian elephants [ 16 , 24 ]. IgA is the primary immune protein in humoral mucosal immunity as first-line mucosal protection against pathogens [ 25 ] and is an indicator of health and immune function [ 25 , 26 ]. In one Asian elephant, IgA was significantly elevated in association with a systemic illness [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In one Asian elephant, IgA was significantly elevated in association with a systemic illness [ 24 ]. However, in other species, increased IgA was also observed in response to positive stimuli, like environmental enrichment [ 25 ], and relaxing activities like watching movies, lying down, and massage [ 27 ]. Because chronic stress can suppress immune function, a decrease in IgA may indicate poor welfare conditions, whereas high concentrations could indicate a positive welfare state [ 25 , 28 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, in other species, increased IgA was also observed in response to positive stimuli, like environmental enrichment [ 25 ], and relaxing activities like watching movies, lying down, and massage [ 27 ]. Because chronic stress can suppress immune function, a decrease in IgA may indicate poor welfare conditions, whereas high concentrations could indicate a positive welfare state [ 25 , 28 ]. Thus, measures of IgA may be useful in determining how animals respond to different types (positive or negative) and durations (acute or chronic) of stressful stimuli, both intrinsic and extrinsic [ 16 , 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because chronic stress can suppress immune function, a decrease in IgA may indicate poor welfare conditions, whereas high concentrations could indicate a positive welfare state [ 25 , 28 ]. Thus, measures of IgA may be useful in determining how animals respond to different types (positive or negative) and durations (acute or chronic) of stressful stimuli, both intrinsic and extrinsic [ 16 , 25 ]. Furthermore, combining the two indices could provide more robust interpretations of findings from welfare studies [ 24 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Tourist Activities on Fecal and Salivary Glucocorticoids and Immunoglobulin A in Female Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Kosaruk

Brown

Plangsangmas

et al. 2020

Animals

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Asian elephants have been an important part of wildlife ecotourism in Thailand for over two decades. Elephants in tourist camps are exposed to a variety of management styles and daily activities that can potentially affect health and welfare. This study investigated relationships between a novel welfare biomarker, immunoglobulin A (IgA), and daily camp activities, and compared results to glucocorticoid (GC) measures. Often no-riding camps are portrayed as providing better welfare than camps that offer riding. Therefore, we predicted that elephants at no-riding camps would have lower GC and higher IgA concentrations, and a low GC/IgA ratio. Forty-four female elephants from six elephant camps were divided into three groups based on riding activities: saddle-riding, bareback-riding, and no-riding. Fecal and salivary samples were collected monthly for 1 year along with evaluations of body condition, foot health, and wounding. Camp environment and management varied among camps, although the major difference was in riding activities. Concentrations of GCs and IgA varied among the working groups, but not always consistently between sample matrices. Overall fecal glucocorticoid metabolite concentrations were lowest in the saddle-riding group. Only in one bareback-riding camp did the elephants exhibit a potentially positive welfare response with a low GC/IgA ratio over time. Other results varied between the two biomarkers, with considerable variability across camps, suggesting there is more to good welfare than whether elephants participate in riding or not. Several other human-induced stressors, like chaining, ankus use, and limited social opportunities are likely to be impacting well-being and should be considered to ensure management practices meet physical and psychological welfare needs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Effect of Tourist Activities on Fecal and Salivary Glucocorticoids and Immunoglobulin A in Female Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Kosaruk

Brown

Plangsangmas

et al. 2020

Animals

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“…Continuing and excessive stress causes instability in the body's homeostasis, cardiovascular system, musculoskeletal response, emotional stability, and immune function [11]. In physiological as well know two components of stress response -salivary cortisol and secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) -have been proposed [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Psychological Anxiety and Physiological Stress Hormones in Korea National Shooters

Park

Lim

Lee³

2020

Preprint

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Background: Psychological and physiological management is closely related to the athlete's performance, especially the shooting competition. Thus, we aimed to investigate the changes of psychological anxiety and physiological stress hormones immediately before the shooting competition in Korea National shooters. Methods: Seventy-two Korea National Shooting athletes (Rifle = 62, Pistol = 8, Shotgun = 2) were recruited for the present study. The physiological stress hormones state was assessed based on saliva cortisol level, salivary immunoglobulin A level. The psychological stress state was assessed based on beck anxiety inventory questionnaire. Results: Significant higher cortisol concentration (p<.05) and cortisol secretion rate (p<.05) were in severe anxiety group. No significant SIgA concentration and SIgA secretion rate in among the groups. A positive correlation was found between BAI score and cortisol concentration (p<.05). Conclusions: This study indicates that changes of psychological anxiety and physiological stress hormones immediately before the shooting competition in Korea National shooters. Therefore, these finding provide preliminary evidence indicating that the psychological anxiety affective physiological stress, therefore negative effect on athletes' performance. Thus, research is needed to build a strategy to reduce physiological stress.

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Responsiveness of fecal immunoglobulin A to HPA‐axis activation limits its use for mucosal immunity assessment

Behringer

Müller‐Klein

Strübe

et al. 2021

American J Primatol

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The assessment of mucosal immunity as a component of animal health is an important aspect for the understanding of variation in host immunity, and its tradeoff against other life‐history traits. We investigated immunoglobulin A (IgA), the major type of antibody associated with mucosal immunity, in relation to changes in parasitic burden following anthelminthic treatment in noninvasively collected fecal samples in a semi‐free ranging group of Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus). We measured IgA in 340 fecal samples of fourteen females and nine males. As IgA has been found to be responsive to stressors, we also related fecal IgA (fIgA) levels to fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (fGCM) measured in the same samples as part of a previous study. We found a high variability within and between individual fIgA levels over time. Running generalized additive mixed models, we found that fIgA levels were higher in males than in females, but did not change in response to the anthelmintic treatment and the resulting reduction in worm burden. Instead, fIgA level changes were significantly correlated to changes in fGCM levels. Our findings indicate that due to the strong responsiveness of fIgA to HPA‐axis activity, the measurement of fIgA may have certain limitations with respect to reflecting gastrointestinal parasitic burden. Moreover, the responsiveness of fIgA to stressors interferes with the interpretation of IgA levels in fecal samples as a measure of mucosal immunity, at least in our study population of the Barbary macaques.

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Linking stress and immunity: Immunoglobulin A as a non-invasive physiological biomarker in animal welfare studies

Cited by 66 publications

References 140 publications

Effect of Tourist Activities on Fecal and Salivary Glucocorticoids and Immunoglobulin A in Female Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Effect of Tourist Activities on Fecal and Salivary Glucocorticoids and Immunoglobulin A in Female Captive Asian Elephants in Thailand

Changes in Psychological Anxiety and Physiological Stress Hormones in Korea National Shooters

Responsiveness of fecal immunoglobulin A to HPA‐axis activation limits its use for mucosal immunity assessment

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