Early dietary effects of arachidonic acid on gene expression linked to  immune response and metabolism in rural and urban Great Tit (Parus Major) nestlings

Abstract: This study was conducted to test the silver spoon hypothesis that earlylife nutritional conditions impact development, performance and fitness of the birdsgreat tit (Parus major) nestlings. We investigated whether fatty acid affects immunityand metabolism during the altricial period by examining the expressions of geneTLR4 (immunity related) and COX 2 (metabolism related) against a dietarymanipulation on great tit nestlings in urban vs. rural environments. The resultssuggested that arachidonic acid had no significant effect on TLR4 expression, but atendency to induce immune response, regardless of urban or rural conditions. Thestrength of immune response was however negatively correlated with laying date. Theurban great tit nestlings had a higher COX 2 gene expression than rural ones, andarachidonic acid suppressed COX 2.Thus no strong support to the hypothesis was found for the studied great titpopulations. It showed, however, i) there is a tendency of increasing immune responsewith extra fatty acid in the diet, and ii) arachidonic acid suppress metabolism. Fattyacid involved in a multiple physiological processes and this complex need to beelaborated in future studies.