ArticlePloS one2012
No evidence for a trade-off between reproductive investment and immunity in a rodent.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Total Immunoglobulin G Variation Through the Phenological Cycle of Migrant and Resident Lesser Long-Nosed Bats (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) in the Drylands of Mexico and Its Relationship With Bacterial Killing-Ability of Plasma.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2026Article
- Possible Role of Gut Microbiota in Polypropylene Microplastics-Induced Immunity and Reproductive Dysfunction in Mice.Toxics · 2026Article
- Effects of Tannic Acid on Immune Function and Gut Microbiota in Brandt's Voles (Microorganisms · 2026Article
- Article
- A global-scale dataset of bat viral detection suggests that pregnancy reduces viral shedding.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Reproduction results in parallel changes of oxidative stress and immunocompetence in a wild long-living mammal-edible dormouseBiology letters · 2024Article
- Hot and scared: how do heatwaves and predation risk impact resource acquisition and allocation?Biology letters · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- No evidence of metabolic costs following adaptive immune activation or reactivation in house sparrows.Biology letters · 2022Article
- From phenoloxidase to fecundity: food availability does not influence the costs of oxidative challenge in a wing-dimorphic cricket.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2020Article
- Life History Trade-offs within the Context of Mitochondrial Hormesis.Integrative and comparative biology · 2018Review
- Immune response from a resource allocation perspective.Frontiers in genetics · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Life history theory assumes there are trade-offs between competing functions such as reproduction and immunity. Although well studied in birds, studies of the trade-offs between reproduction and immunity in small mammals are scarce. Here we examined whether reduced immunity is a consequence of reproductive effort in lactating Brandt's voles (Lasiopodomys brandtii). Specifically, we tested the effects of lactation on immune function (Experiment I). The results showed that food intake and resting metabolic rate (RMR) were higher in lactating voles (6≤ litter size ≤8) than that in non-reproductive voles. Contrary to our expectation, lactating voles also had higher levels of serum total Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) IgG and no change in phytohemagglutinin (PHA) response and anti-KLH Immunoglobulin M (IgM) compared with non-reproductive voles, suggesting improved rather than reduced immune function. To further test the effect of differences in reproductive investment on immunity, we compared the responses between natural large (n≥8) and small litter size (n≤6) (Experiment II) and manipulated large (11-13) and small litter size (2-3) (Experiment III). During peak lactation, acquired immunity (PHA response, anti-KLH IgG and anti-KLH IgM) was not significantly different between voles raising large or small litters in both experiments, despite the measured difference in reproductive investment (greater litter size, litter mass, RMR and food intake in the voles raising larger litters). Total IgG was higher in voles with natural large litter size than those with natural small litter size, but decreased in the enlarged litter size group compared with control and reduced group. Our results showed that immune function is not suppressed to compensate the high energy demands during lactation in Brandt's voles and contrasting the situation in birds, is unlikely to be an important aspect mediating the trade-off between reproduction and survival.
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