ArticleMalaria journal2015
Mosquito age and avian malaria infection.
Article in Malaria journal, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of the intensity of infection in birds on Plasmodium development within Culex pipiens mosquitoes.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Article
- Growth and longevity modulation through larval environment mediate immunosenescence and immune strategy of Tenebrio molitor.Immunity & ageing : I & A · 2024Article
- Mosquito ageing modulates the development, virulence and transmission potential of pathogens.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Are the Culex pipiens biotypes pipiens, molestus and their hybrids competent vectors of avian Plasmodium?PloS one · 2024Article
- Immune gene expression in the mosquito vector Culex quinquefasciatus during an avian malaria infection.Molecular ecology · 2023Article
- Review
- Current status of experimental models for the study of malaria.Parasitology · 2022Review
- Investigation of Biological Factors Contributing to Individual Variation in Viral Titer after Oral Infection ofViruses · 2022Article
- Impacts of Infectious Dose, Feeding Behavior, and Age ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Last-come, best served? Mosquito biting order andProceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Age influences the thermal suitability ofProceedings. Biological sciences · 2020Article
- Effects of fungal infection on the survival of parasitic bat flies.Parasites & vectors · 2020Article
- Transstadial immune activation in a mosquito: Adults that emerge from infected larvae have stronger antibacterial activity in their hemocoel yet increased susceptibility to malaria infection.Ecology and evolution · 2019Article
- Characterization of Plasmodium relictum, a cosmopolitan agent of avian malaria.Malaria journal · 2018Article
- Transmission traits of malaria parasites within the mosquito: Genetic variation, phenotypic plasticity, and consequences for control.Evolutionary applications · 2018Article
- Complete avian malaria parasite genomes reveal features associated with lineage-specific evolution in birds and mammals.Genome research · 2018Article
- Anopheles gambiae larvae mount stronger immune responses against bacterial infection than adults: evidence of adaptive decoupling in mosquitoes.Parasites & vectors · 2017Article
- Insect immunology and hematopoiesis.Developmental and comparative immunology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe immune system of many insects wanes dramatically with age, leading to the general prediction that older insects should be more susceptible to infection than their younger counterparts. This prediction is however challenged by numerous studies showing that older insects are more resistant to a range of pathogens. The effect of age on susceptibility to infections is particularly relevant for mosquitoes given their role as vectors of malaria and other diseases. Despite this, the effect of mosquito age on Plasmodium susceptibility has been rarely explored, either experimentally or theoretically.
methodsExperiments were carried out using the avian malaria parasite Plasmodium relictum and its natural vector in the field, the mosquito Culex pipiens. Both innate immune responses (number and type of circulating haemocytes) and Plasmodium susceptibility (prevalence and burden) were quantified in seven- and 17-day old females. Whether immunity or Plasmodium susceptibility are modulated by the previous blood feeding history of the mosquito was also investigated. To ensure repeatability, two different experimental blocks were carried out several weeks apart.
resultsHaemocyte numbers decrease drastically as the mosquitoes age. Despite this, older mosquitoes are significantly more resistant to a Plasmodium infection than their younger counterparts. Crucially, however, the age effect is entirely reversed when old mosquitoes have taken one previous non-infected blood meal.
conclusionsThe results agree with previous studies showing that older insects are often more resistant to infections than younger ones. These results suggest that structural and functional alterations in mosquito physiology with age may be more important than immunity in determining the probability of a Plasmodium infection in old mosquitoes. Possible explanations for why the effect is reversed in blood-fed mosquitoes are discussed. The reversal of the age effect in blood fed mosquitoes implies that age is unlikely to have a significant impact on mosquito susceptibility in the field.
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.