Influence of Social Conditions on Humoral Adaptive Immunity in Bank (Clethrionomys glareolus) and Gray-Sided (Clethrionomys rufocanus) Voles: An Experimental Study

• Published in: Biology bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vol. 48; no. 9; pp. 1587 - 1598
• Main Author: Kravchenko, L. B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 01.12.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptive immunity; Age; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Birth; Cell Biology; Clethrionomys glareolus; Clethrionomys rufocanus; Dispersal; Ecology; Erythrocytes; Humoral immunity; Immune system; Immunosuppression; Lactation; Life Sciences; Population density; Rodents; Sex differences; Social environment; Species; Spleen; Thermoregulation; Zoology; humoral immunity; maturation; population density; social conditions; gray-sided vole; bank vole
• ISSN: 1062-3590; 1608-3059
• DOI: 10.1134/S1062359021090120

The effect of the population density on humoral adaptive immunity in bank ( Clethrionomys glareolus ) and gray-sided ( C. rufocanus ) voles has been studied. We used 20-, 40-, and 60-day-old voles born in a vivarium from females captured in the field (May–August). The rearing of voles in the brood groups after the end of lactation modeled a high population density without the possibility of dispersal. The low density was modeled by isolated rearing of the animals after weaning. Тhe number of spleen antibody-forming cells, formed in response to the administration of sheep erythrocytes, was considered an indicator of humoral immunity. We studied animals at the age of 20, 40, and 60 days. Regardless of the population density, the humoral immunity was higher in the bank vole. There were no sex differences in either species. The effect of the density of the social environment on the immunity depended on the species and birth dates of individuals. Without taking into account the birth dates, this indicator was higher for red voles kept in brood groups. The sensitivity of the immune system to social stimuli depended on the birth date of individuals. Regardless of the rearing conditions, voles born in May had a similar level of immunity in all age groups. These differences appeared at the age of 60 days in individuals born in June and at the age of 40 days in individuals born in July and August. The immunity of the gray-sided vole depended on the population density only indirectly, through thermoregulation conditions. In isolated two-month-old individuals of this species born in August, low ambient temperatures caused immunosuppression. The formation of the immune system of both vole species competed with growth processes without influencing maturation.