The innate immune system is the only defence weapon of invertebrates and a fundamental defence mechanism of fish. The innate system also plays an instructive role in the acquired immune response and homeostasis and is therefore equally important in higher vertebrates. The innate system's recognition of non-self and danger signals is served by a limited number of germ-line encoded pattern recogn...

The application of plant-derived immunostimulants in aquaculture for the prevention of diseases is a promising new development. The objective is to study the effect of crude extract, water and hexane soluble fractions of Solanum trilobatum leaves administered intraperitoneally on the specific immune response, non specific immunity and disease resistance in Oreochromis mossambicus. The specific ...

Androgens and carotenoids play a fundamental role in the expression of secondary sex traits in animals that communicate information on individual quality. In birds, androgens regulate song, aggression, and a variety of sexual ornaments and displays, whereas carotenoids are responsible for the red, yellow, and orange colors of the integument. Parallel, but independent, research lines suggest tha...

The safety and precision of peptide antigens has prompted the search for adjuvants capable of increasing the immune response against these intrinsically poorly immunogenic antigens. The integration of both immunostimulants and peptide antigens within nanometric delivery systems for their co-delivery to immune cells is a promising vaccination strategy. With this in mind, the potential synergisti...

Vaccination is the most effective method for controlling the infectious diseases that threaten the poultry industry worldwide. The use of adjuvants or immunostimulants is often necessary to improve vaccine efficacy, particularly for vaccines based on recombinant protein or inactivated pathogens. The adjuvant effects of zymosan A on antigen-specific antibody production were investigated in chick...

For decades, carotenoids have attracted attention for their roles as vitamin-A precursors, antioxidants, and immunostimulants, but we still understand very little about the metabolic processes that accompany these compounds. Animals like birds use carotenoids to color their feathers and bare parts to become sexually attractive. They commonly metabolically derive their body colorants from dietar...

The aim of dendritic cell (DC) vaccination in cancer is to induce tumor-specific effector T cells that may reduce and control tumor mass. Immunostimulants that could drive a desired immune response are necessary to be found in order to generate a long lasting tumor immune response. GK-1 peptide, derived from Taenia crassiceps, induces not only increase in TNFα, IFNγ, and MCP-1 production in coc...

The role of plant extracts and Ayurvedic polyherbal preparations in treating various ailments has been acknowledged since time immemorial. Studies based on the effect of these extracts in treatment of different diseases have also been well documented. Indian medicinal literature also emphasizes the synergistic effect of polyherbal drugs in restoring and rejuvenating immune system. This review f...

Muropeptides are fragments of peptidoglycan that trigger innate immune responses by activating nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) 1 and NOD2. Muropeptides from Gram-negative bacteria contain a meso-diaminopimelic acid (meso-DAP) residue in either a terminal or a non-terminal position. While the former ones are known to be recognized by NOD1, much less is known about recognition of ...

Despite convincing evidence that carotenoid availability can have positive physiological effects, we still lack information on the functional consequences of carotenoid limitation at the behavioral level. Given the role carotenoids play in mitigating oxidative stress produced during physical activity and as immunostimulants, one behavioral function on which they may have a significant impact is...