The temporary modulation of tyramine on immune responses, carbohydrate metabolism, and catecholamines in...

Tyramine (TA), a biogenic monoamine, plays various important physiological roles including immunological regulation in invertebrates. In this study, the effects of TA on the regulation of immune resistance, carbohydrate metabolism and biogenic monoamine, as well as its signaling pathway in Macrobrachium rosenbergii were determined. Results showed that total haemocyte count, hyaline cells, semigranular cells, and phenoloxidase activity per 50 μL of haemolymph and per granulocyte (the sum of semigranular and granular cells) at 0.5 h as well as phagocytic activity and clearance efficiency to Lactococcus garvieae at 1 h of prawn injected with TA at 1 nmol prawn^-1 significantly increased, but the significantly decreased plasma lysozyme activity, phagocytic activity, clearance efficiency, and haemolymph glucose and dopamine were observed in prawn injected with TA at 10 nmol prawn^-1 for 0.5 h. Respiratory bursts and haemolymph lactate in two TA-injection treatments at 0.5 h and 0.5-1 h, respectively, were significantly higher than those of the saline control, and in addition, TA depressed dopamine release in a dose-dependent manner after 0.5 h of TA injection. All the examined parameters returned to control levels after prawn injected with TA for 2 h. The inhibited effect of TA (at 10 nmol prawn^-1 injection) on the phagocytic activity and clearance efficiency to pathogens was blocked by prazosin (an α1 adrenoceptors antagonist). For prawn received TA for 1 h then challenged with Lactococcus garvieae at 2 × 10⁵ colony-forming units prawn^-1, the survival ratio of TA 1 nmol prawn^-1-injected prawn significantly increased by 20%, compared to the saline-challenged control or TA 10 nmol prawn^-1-injected prawn after 144 h of challenge. These results suggested that the level of dopamine release suppression regulated by TA resulted in the immunoenhancing or immunosuppressive effects in prawn, and the signaling pathways of TA in mediating immune function were through octopamine (OA)/TA receptors.