Physiological, but not fitness, effects of two interacting haemoparasitic infections in a wild rodent

International Journal for Parasitology
Christopher H TaylorJanette E Bradley

Abstract

In contrast to the conditions in most laboratory studies, wild animals are routinely challenged by multiple infections simultaneously, and these infections can interact in complex ways. This means that the impact of a parasite on its host's physiology and fitness cannot be fully assessed in isolation, and requires consideration of the interactions with other co-infections. Here we examine the impact of two common blood parasites in the field vole (Microtus agrestis): Babesia microti and Bartonella spp., both of which have zoonotic potential. We collected longitudinal and cross-sectional data from four populations of individually tagged wild field voles. This included data on biometrics, life history, ectoparasite counts, presence/absence of microparasites, immune markers and, for a subset of voles, more detailed physiological and immunological measurements. This allowed us to monitor infections over time and to estimate components of survival and fecundity. We confirm, as reported previously, that B. microti has a preventative effect on infection with Bartonella spp., but that the reverse is not true. We observed gross splenomegaly following B. microti infection, and an increase in IL-10 production together with some weight los...Continue Reading

Citations

May 21, 2020·Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI·Linas Balčiauskas, Laima Balčiauskienė
Jan 31, 2019·Current Zoology·Victor BandeiraCarlos Fonseca

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