Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23225873›Full record

ReviewThe Journal of experimental biology2013

Toxoplasma gondii infection and behaviour - location, location, location?

Glenn A McConkey, Heather L Martin, Greg C Bristow, Joanne P Webster

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in The Journal of experimental biology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 113 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
113citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
9.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

113 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 220 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  9. Low Tenacity ofMicroorganisms · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Pregnant Women Chronically Infected byPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Review

53 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Glenn A McConkeySchool of Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK. g.a.mcconkey@leeds.ac.uk
Heather L Martin
Greg C Bristow
Joanne P Webster
University of Leeds · GBImperial College London · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Parasite location has been proposed as an important factor in the behavioural changes observed in rodents infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. During the chronic stages of infection, encysted parasites are found in the brain but it remains unclear whether the parasite has tropism for specific brain regions. Parasite tissue cysts are found in all brain areas with some, but not all, prior studies reporting higher numbers located in the amygdala and frontal cortex. A stochastic process of parasite location does not, however, seem to explain the distinct and often subtle changes observed in rodent behaviour. One factor that could contribute to the specific changes is increased dopamine production by T. gondii. Recently, it was found that cells encysted with parasites in the brains of experimentally infected rodents have high levels of dopamine and that the parasite encodes a tyrosine hydroxylase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of this neurotransmitter. A mechanism is proposed that could explain the behaviour changes due to parasite regulation of dopamine. This could have important implications for T. gondii infections in humans.

Indexed as

AnimalsBehaviorBehavior, AnimalBrainDopamineHost-Parasite InteractionsHumansNervous System DiseasesToxoplasmaToxoplasmosisToxoplasmosis, AnimalDopamine

Identifiers

PMID23225873
PMCPMC3515035
OpenAlexW2164941487

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.