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Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bilbo, SD; Drazen, DL; Quan, N; He, L; Nelson, RJ
Published in: Proceedings. Biological sciences
March 2002

Symptoms of infection, such as fever, anorexia and lethargy, are ubiquitous among vertebrates. Rather than nonspecific manifestations of illness, these responses are organized, adaptive strategies that are often critical to host survival. During times of energetic shortage such as winter, however, it may be detrimental for individuals to prolong energetically demanding symptoms such as fever. Individuals may adjust their immune responses prior to winter by using day length to anticipate energetically-demanding conditions. If the expression of sickness behaviours is constrained by energy availability, then cytokine production, fever, and anorexia should be attenuated in infected Siberian hamsters housed under simulated winter photoperiods. We housed hamsters in either long (14 L : 10 D) or short (10 L : 14 D) day lengths and assessed cytokines, anorexia and fever following injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Short days attenuated the response to lipopolysaccharide, by decreasing the production of interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1beta, and diminishing the duration of fever and anorexia. Short-day exposure in hamsters also decreased the ingestion of dietary iron, a nutrient vital to bacterial replication. Taken together, short day lengths attenuated the symptoms of infection, presumably to optimize energy expenditure and survival outcome.

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Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

March 2002

Volume

269

Issue

1490

Start / End Page

447 / 454

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Loss
  • Reproduction
  • Photoperiod
  • Phodopus
  • Organ Size
  • Milk
  • Male
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Iron
  • Interleukin-6
 

Citation

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Bilbo, S. D., Drazen, D. L., Quan, N., He, L., & Nelson, R. J. (2002). Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters. Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 269(1490), 447–454. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1915
Bilbo, Staci D., Deborah L. Drazen, Ning Quan, Lingli He, and Randy J. Nelson. “Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters.Proceedings. Biological Sciences 269, no. 1490 (March 2002): 447–54. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2001.1915.
Bilbo SD, Drazen DL, Quan N, He L, Nelson RJ. Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2002 Mar;269(1490):447–54.
Bilbo, Staci D., et al. “Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters.Proceedings. Biological Sciences, vol. 269, no. 1490, Mar. 2002, pp. 447–54. Epmc, doi:10.1098/rspb.2001.1915.
Bilbo SD, Drazen DL, Quan N, He L, Nelson RJ. Short day lengths attenuate the symptoms of infection in Siberian hamsters. Proceedings Biological sciences. 2002 Mar;269(1490):447–454.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings. Biological sciences

DOI

EISSN

1471-2954

ISSN

0962-8452

Publication Date

March 2002

Volume

269

Issue

1490

Start / End Page

447 / 454

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight Loss
  • Reproduction
  • Photoperiod
  • Phodopus
  • Organ Size
  • Milk
  • Male
  • Lipopolysaccharides
  • Iron
  • Interleukin-6