Age and Breeding Effort as Sources of Individual Variability in Oxidative Stress Markers in a Bird Species

Oxidative stress is the imbalance between the production of pro‐oxidant substances and the level of antioxidant defenses, which leads to oxidative damage. It has been proposed that senescence is the result of accumulated oxidative damage throughout life. In birds, the sources of individual variabili...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiological and biochemical zoology 2010-01, Vol.83 (1), p.110-118
Main Authors: Alonso‐Álvarez, Carlos, Pérez‐Rodríguez, Lorenzo, García, Jesus T., Viñuela, Javier, Mateo, Rafael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Age Factors
Aging - physiology
Animals
Antioxidants
Aviculture
Birds
Blood plasma
Carotenoids
Carotenoids - blood
Cross-Sectional Studies
Erythrocytes
Erythrocytes - metabolism
Female
Galliformes - blood
Galliformes - physiology
Glutathione Disulfide - blood
Linear Models
Lipid Peroxides - blood
Lipids
Male
Oviposition - physiology
Oxidative stress
Oxidative Stress - physiology
Reproduction - physiology
Uric acid
Uric Acid - blood
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Oxidative stress is the imbalance between the production of pro‐oxidant substances and the level of antioxidant defenses, which leads to oxidative damage. It has been proposed that senescence is the result of accumulated oxidative damage throughout life. In birds, the sources of individual variability in oxidative stress are still poorly understood. Among these sources, age, as related to senescence, should be particularly relevant. Furthermore, recent findings suggest that breeding effort may also deeply influence susceptibility to oxidative stress. However, there is still no evidence of a link between breeding effort and oxidative damage in any vertebrate. Here we analyzed 288 captive red‐legged partridges (Alectoris rufa) across a wide age range (i.e., 1–8 yr old), thus including potentially senescent birds. In spite of limitations due to the cross‐sectional approach, results revealed that old birds produced less offspring and endured higher levels of oxidized glutathione and peroxidized lipids in erythrocytes than did middle‐aged individuals. Old birds also showed higher plasma total antioxidant status and uric acid levels than did younger birds, but lower amounts of circulating carotenoids. Furthermore, hatching success was negatively correlated to lipid peroxidation in females but not in males, supporting the hypothesis that breeding effort promotes oxidative damage.
ISSN:1522-2152
1537-5293
DOI:10.1086/605395