ArticleParasites & vectors2016
Volume and antimicrobial activity of secretions of the uropygial gland are correlated with malaria infection in house sparrows.
Article in Parasites & vectors, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental factors associated with nesting habits and age shape the composition and connection between skin and uropygial gland microbiomes of birds.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Avian malaria and invasion success: Contrasting infection patterns in two introduced Eurasian sparrows in North America (International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2026Article
- Exploring the associations between preen oil bacterial, chemical and proteomic profiles of passerines.Antonie van Leeuwenhoek · 2025Article
- Host traits rather than migration and molting strategies explain feather bacterial load in Palearctic passerines.iScience · 2024Article
- Colouration of the uropygial secretion in starling nestlings: a possible role of bacteria in parent-offspring communication.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
- Effects of genotype, sex, and feed restriction on the biochemical composition of chicken preen gland secretions and their implications for commercial poultry production.Journal of animal science · 2023Article
- Review
- Effects of Cage and Floor Rearing Systems on the Metabolic Components of the Uropygial Gland in Ducks.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Article
- Properties, Genetics and Innate Immune Function of the Cuticle in Egg-Laying Species.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Biosafe Management ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Antibacterial and anatomical defenses in an oil contaminated, vulnerable seaduck.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Exploring theCurrent zoology · 2021Article
- Microbially Mediated Chemical Ecology of Animals: A Review of Its Role in Conspecific Communication, Parasitism and Predation.Biology · 2021Review
- Female-Based Patterns and Social Function in Avian Chemical Communication.Journal of chemical ecology · 2021Review
- Great Tit (Frontiers in microbiology · 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
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAnimals have developed a wide range of defensive mechanisms against parasites to reduce the likelihood of infection and its negative fitness costs. The uropygial gland is an exocrine gland that produces antimicrobial and antifungal secretions with properties used as a defensive barrier on skin and plumage. This secretion has been proposed to affect the interaction between avian hosts and their ectoparasites. Because uropygial secretions may constitute a defense mechanism against ectoparasites, this may result in a reduction in prevalence of blood parasites that are transmitted by ectoparasitic vectors. Furthermore, other studies pointed out that vectors could be attracted by uropygial secretions and hence increase the probability of becoming infected. Here we explored the relationship between uropygial gland size, antimicrobial activity of uropygial secretions and malaria infection in house sparrows Passer domesticus.
methodsA nested-PCR was used to identify blood parasites infection. Flow cytometry detecting absolute cell counting assessed antimicrobial activity of the uropygial gland secretion
resultsUninfected house sparrows had larger uropygial glands and higher antimicrobial activity in uropygial secretions than infected individuals. We found a positive association between uropygial gland size and scaled body mass index, but only in uninfected sparrows. Female house sparrows had larger uropygial glands and higher antimicrobial activity of gland secretions than males.
conclusionThese findings suggest that uropygial gland secretions may play an important role as a defensive mechanism against malaria infection.
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.