ArticlePloS one2012
Functional similarities between pigeon 'milk' and mammalian milk: induction of immune gene expression and modification of the microbiota.
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 27 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 42 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary Energy-Protein Balance Regulates Slaughter Traits, Meat Quality, Digestive Enzyme Activity, and Fecal Microbiota in Early-Weaned Gray-Feathered King Pigeon Squabs.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Can kefir supplementation influence the growth performance and serum biochemistry of artificially reared squabs of three pigeon breeds?Archives animal breeding · 2026Article
- Dynamic Changes in the Crop Milk and Salivary Microbiota of Breeding Pigeons During the Raising Brooding Period.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Ribosome profiling and single-cell RNA sequencing identify the unfolded protein response as a key regulator of pigeon lactation.Zoological research · 2025Article
- Investigation of the reproductive behavior of Tarim pigeons.Archives animal breeding · 2025Article
- 16S rRNA Sequencing and Metabolomics to Analyze Correlation Between Fecal Flora and Metabolites of Squabs and Parent Pigeons.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Effects of Supplementing Drinking Water of Parental Pigeons withAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Dietary probiotic based on a dual-strain Bacillus subtilis improves immunity, intestinal health, and growth performance of broiler chickens.Journal of animal science · 2024Article
- Effect of Dietary Puerarin Supplementation on Growth Performance, Immune Response, Antioxidant Capacity, and Intestinal Morphology in Domestic Pigeons (The journal of poultry science · 2024Article
- Comprehensive Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Analysis Revealed the Functional Differences in Pigeon Lactation between Male and Female during the Reproductive Cycle.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Pigeon during the Breeding Cycle: Behaviors, Composition and Formation of Crop Milk, and Physiological Adaptation.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Article
- Reconstitution and Transmission of Gut Microbiomes and Their Genes between Generations.Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Interactions between reproductive biology and microbiomes in wild animal species.Animal microbiome · 2021Review
- Love and longevity: A Social Dependency Hypothesis.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2021Review
- Exploration of Proteomics Analysis of Crop Milk in Pigeons (ACS omega · 2021Article
- Changes in the diversity and composition of gut microbiota in pigeon squabs infected with Trichomonas gallinae.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Analysis of Long Non-Coding RNAs and mRNAs Associated with Lactation in the Crop of Pigeons (Genes · 2020Article
- The Composition and Function of Pigeon Milk Microbiota Transmitted From Parent Pigeons to Squabs.Frontiers in microbiology · 2020Article
- Targeted disruption of TORC1 retards young squab growth by inhibiting the synthesis of crop milk protein in breeding pigeon (Columba livia).Poultry science · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Pigeon 'milk' and mammalian milk have functional similarities in terms of nutritional benefit and delivery of immunoglobulins to the young. Mammalian milk has been clearly shown to aid in the development of the immune system and microbiota of the young, but similar effects have not yet been attributed to pigeon 'milk'. Therefore, using a chicken model, we investigated the effect of pigeon 'milk' on immune gene expression in the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue (GALT) and on the composition of the caecal microbiota. Chickens fed pigeon 'milk' had a faster rate of growth and a better feed conversion ratio than control chickens. There was significantly enhanced expression of immune-related gene pathways and interferon-stimulated genes in the GALT of pigeon 'milk'-fed chickens. These pathways include the innate immune response, regulation of cytokine production and regulation of B cell activation and proliferation. The caecal microbiota of pigeon 'milk'-fed chickens was significantly more diverse than control chickens, and appears to be affected by prebiotics in pigeon 'milk', as well as being directly seeded by bacteria present in pigeon 'milk'. Our results demonstrate that pigeon 'milk' has further modes of action which make it functionally similar to mammalian milk. We hypothesise that pigeon 'lactation' and mammalian lactation evolved independently but resulted in similarly functional products.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.