Activation of the immune system incurs energetic costs but has no effect on the thermogenic performance of house sparrows during acute cold challenge

Abstract

Trade-offs between the immune system and other condition-dependent life-history traits (reproduction, predator avoidance and somatic growth) have been well documented in both birds and mammals. However, no studies have examined the impact of immune activation on thermoregulatory performance during acute cold exposure. Because of their high surface-area-to-volume ratios, small birds incur high energetic costs associated with thermoregulation during cold exposure. Consequently, we predicted that the immune system and the thermoregulatory system would compete for energetic resources. To test this, we immunologically challenged adult house sparrows (Passer domesticus) with 5 mg kg-1 of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to induce an acute phase response and measured both resting (RMR; minimum metabolic rate) and summit (M sum; maximal metabolic rate during cold exposure) metabolic rates. We found that birds injected with LPS had significantly higher RMR and M sum than birds injected with phosphate-buffered saline, indicating that LPS-treated birds were able to support the cost of both immune activation and thermoregulation under conditions eliciting maximal thermogenic performance. These results suggest that, in the absence of a pathogen, birds that experience short-term activation of the immune system have higher energetic costs during cold exposure, but immune activation does not compromise maximum thermoregulatory performance. © 2013. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.