Emergence from torpor rapidly elevates suppressed blood immune parameters in a bat species hibernating in a moderate climate

Anna Langguth; Nicholas C Wu; Tomás Villada-Cadavid; Laura A Brannelly; Jasmin Hufschmid; Gábor Á Czirják; Christopher Turbill

doi:10.1242/jeb.251962

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Emergence from torpor rapidly elevates suppressed blood immune parameters in a bat species hibernating in a moderate climate

Journal article

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Emergence from torpor rapidly elevates suppressed blood immune parameters in a bat species hibernating in a moderate climate

Anna Langguth, Nicholas C Wu, Tomás Villada-Cadavid, Laura A Brannelly, Jasmin Hufschmid, Gábor Á Czirják and Christopher Turbill

Journal of experimental biology

2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.251962

PMID: 41906975

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Abstract

Immune function

White-nose syndrome

Hibernation physiology

Australian bats

Hibernation

Arousal

1. Torpor is a state of reduced metabolism that allows animals to conserve energy during periods of limited resources. Critical physiological processes, including the immune function are downregulated during torpor - a phenomenon that remains relatively understudied in bats, especially in the southern hemisphere. 2. This study examines the effects of torpor on the immune system of the eastern bent-winged bat (Miniopterus orianae oceanensis), an Australian cave-roosting species. We captured 52 bats in austral autumn and winter and housed them in controlled conditions to induce torpor for two or eight hours. Blood samples were collected pre-torpor, at the end of the torpor bout, and 30 minutes post-arousal. White blood cell counts were measured to assess cellular immunity, and plasma antibacterial capacity was used to evaluate humoral innate antibacterial immunity across timepoints. 3. We found that total white blood cell counts decreased by 23 % during torpor, but increased by 75.9 % upon arousal, surpassing baseline values by 33.9 %. Neutrophils and monocytes were the first cells to be restored, the former making up about 57 % of circulating white blood cells after arousal. Antibacterial capacity did not differ between timepoints. 4. Our results demonstrate rapid restoration of white blood cells after arousal, likely through the release of sequestered immune cells, while short torpor bouts do not impair innate humoral immunity in eastern bent-winged bats. While the rapid restoration of neutrophils could be protective against pathogens accumulated during torpor, it also provides a higher potential for immunopathology and tissue damage upon arousal.

Details

Title: Emergence from torpor rapidly elevates suppressed blood immune parameters in a bat species hibernating in a moderate climate
Authors/Creators: Anna Langguth - The University of Melbourne
Nicholas C Wu - School of Environmental and Conservation Science, Murdoch University, WA 6150, Australia
Tomás Villada-Cadavid - Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Laura A Brannelly - The University of Melbourne
Jasmin Hufschmid - One Health Research Group, Melbourne Veterinary School, University of Melbourne, Werribee, VIC, Australia
Gábor Á Czirják - Department of Wildlife Diseases, Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, Berlin 10315, Germany
Christopher Turbill - Western Sydney University
Publication Details: Journal of experimental biology
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Grant note: Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment LP2000100331 / Australian Research Council
Identifiers: 991005877839907891
Murdoch Affiliation: Centre for Terrestrial Ecosystem Science and Sustainability; School of Environmental and Conservation Sciences
Language: English
Resource Type: Journal article

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