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The carotenoid conundrum: improved nutrition boosts plasma carotenoid levels but not immune benefits of carotenoid supplementation

  • Physiological ecology - Original Paper
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Abstract

Carotenoids are widely heralded as central to honest signaling due to their dual roles as pigments and antioxidants/immunostimulants. The aim of this study is to test if diet quality and carotenoids alone or in an interaction influence condition, carotenoid availability in plasma and immune responsiveness. Therefore, a diet experiment during the moult of great tits, Parus major, was performed. In a two-way design, we manipulated general quality (digestibility, protein and vitamin content) as well as carotenoid (lutein) content of semi-synthetic diets. Higher quality diet improved individual condition since birds had greater body mass, and to a lesser extent, higher hematocrit. In addition to the expected positive effect of carotenoid supplementation and individual lutein consumption on circulating lutein, there was a positive effect of enhanced diet quality on plasma carotenoid levels. Carotenoid supplementation, but not diet quality, improved the local inflammatory response and maintenance of body mass during a humoral immune reaction. The enhancement of circulating carotenoid levels by improved general quality of the diet or individual condition could provide a testable, mechanistic explanation for the variation in effects of carotenoid supplementation studies.

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Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Evi Fricke for her help throughout, particularly late-night molecular sexing. We are grateful to Tanja Vogler and Heidi Schmid for dedicated assistance with capturing and looking after the birds, and to Wolfgang Fiedler for help with permit applications. Comments from two anonymous reviewers and H. Ylonen improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioural Ecology of Sexual Signals Group, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology, Vogelwarte Radolfzell, Schlossallee 2, 78315, Radolfzell, Germany

    Anne Peters, Steffen Magdeburg & Kaspar Delhey

  2. School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia

    Anne Peters

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  1. Anne Peters
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  2. Steffen Magdeburg
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Correspondence to Anne Peters.

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Communicated by Heli Siitari.

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Peters, A., Magdeburg, S. & Delhey, K. The carotenoid conundrum: improved nutrition boosts plasma carotenoid levels but not immune benefits of carotenoid supplementation. Oecologia 166, 35–43 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1921-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-1921-4

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