Data from: Primary dermal fibroblasts and pectoralis muscle show similar patterns of oxidative stress in tropical and temperate birds despite differing life-histories

Tropical birds have a “slower pace of life,” with lower rates of
whole-animal metabolism, smaller metabolically active organs, and lower
cellular metabolic rates than their temperate counterparts. Oxidative
stress is a physiological mechanism that may dictate differing
life-histories such as those found between tropical and temperate birds.
Oxygen is required to make ATP, resulting in the production of reactive
oxygen species (ROS). If left unchecked, ROS can structurally alter
proteins, induce mutations in DNA, and damage structural lipids. To combat
accumulating oxidative damage, organisms have evolved an elaborate and
costly antioxidant system that serves to sequester ROS before they wreak
cellular havoc. We examined whether oxidative stress would differ between
tropical and temperate birds. We used isolated primary dermal fibroblasts
and pectoralis muscle tissue for measurements. We measured four aspects of
oxidative stress in primary fibroblasts – reduced glutathione (GSH)
concentration, ROS production, mitochondrial content, and lipid
peroxidation (LPO) damage. We found no significant differences in the four
variables between temperate and tropical birds.. In muscle tissue, we
measured catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) glutathione peroxidase
(GPx) activity, peroxyl and hydroxyl scavenging capacity, and LPO damage.
We found that peroxyl scavenging capacity was significantly higher in
tropical birds compared with temperate birds.