Urinary neopterin reflects immunological variation associated with age, helminth parasitism, and the microbiome in a wild primate
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: Neopterin, a product of activated white blood cells, is a marker of nonspecific inflammation that can capture variation in immune investment or disease-related immune activity and can be collected noninvasively in urine. Mounting studies in wildlife point to lifetime patterns in neopterin related to immune development, aging, and certain diseases, but rarely are studies able to assess whether neopterin can capture multiple concurrent dimensions of health and disease in a single system. We assessed the relationship between urinary neopterin stored on filter paper and multiple metrics of health and disease in wild geladas (Theropithecus gelada), primates endemic to the Ethiopian highlands. We tested whether neopterin captures age-related variation in inflammation arising from developing immunity in infancy and chronic inflammation in old age, inflammation related to intramuscular tapeworm infection, helminth-induced anti-inflammatory immunomodulation, and perturbations in the gastrointestinal microbiome. We found that neopterin had a U-shaped relationship with age, no association with larval tapeworm infection, a negative relationship with metrics related to gastrointestinal helminth infection, and a negative relationship with microbial diversity. Together with growing research on neopterin and specific diseases, our results demonstrate that urinary neopterin can be a powerful tool for assessing multiple dimensions of health and disease in wildlife.
Source: Scientific Reports
Authors: India A. Schneider-Crease, Jacob A. Feder, Alice Baniel, Colleen McCann, Abebaw Azanaw Haile, Belayneh Abebe, Lauren Fitzgerald, Megan A. Gomery, Ruth A. Simberloff, Zack L. Petrie, Sarah Gabriel, Pierre Dorny, Peter J. Fashing, Nga Nguyen, Thore J. Bergman, Jacinta C. Beehner, Noah Snyder-Mackler, Amy Lu
Institutions: Arizona State University, Stony Brook University, Wildlife Conservation Society, New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, African Wildlife Foundation, Miami University, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Ghent University, Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde, California State University, Fullerton, University of Oslo, University of Michigan
Language: English
Topic: Animal health and immunology
Subfield: Small Animals
Field: Veterinary
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,190
Awards: G2400620618, G3160930114, Functional genomics of high-altitude adaptation in a non-human primate model, LTREB: Social dynamics and fitness in a complex primate society, Collaborative research: Physiological signatures of variable weaning strategies in wild primates, Collaborative research: Physiological signatures of variable weaning strategies in wild primates, LTREB Renewal: Social dynamics and fitness in a complex primate society, Sizing Up Rivals and Mates in Wild Geladas: Visual, Vocal, and Hormonal Signals, Gene regulatory analysis of social integration and resilience during aging
OpenAlex ID: W4311678931