Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27386096›Full record

ArticleEcology and evolution2016

Application of Concanavalin A during immune responsiveness skin-swelling tests facilitates measurement interpretation in mammalian ecology.

Barbora Bílková, Tomáš Albrecht, Milada Chudíčková, Vladimír Holáň, Jaroslav Piálek, Michal Vinkler

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Ecology and evolution, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 23% 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

2 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.

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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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Barbora BílkováDepartment of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University in Prague Viničná 7 128 44 Praha Czech Republic, EU.
Tomáš AlbrechtDepartment of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University in Prague Viničná 7128 44 Praha Czech Republic, EU; Research Facility Studenec Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8603 65 Brno Czech Republic, EU.
Milada ChudíčkováInstitute of Experimental Medicine Czech Academy of Sciences Vídeňská 1083 142 20 Praha 4 Czech Republic, EU.
Vladimír HoláňInstitute of Experimental Medicine Czech Academy of Sciences Vídeňská 1083 142 20 Praha 4 Czech Republic, EU.
Jaroslav PiálekResearch Facility Studenec Institute of Vertebrate Biology Czech Academy of Sciences Květná 8 603 65 Brno Czech Republic, EU.
Michal VinklerDepartment of Zoology Faculty of Science Charles University in Prague Viničná 7 128 44 Praha Czech Republic, EU.
Charles University · CZCzech Academy of Sciences · CZCzech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology · CZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The skin-swelling test is a simple and widespread method used in field ecological research to estimate cellular immune responsiveness in animals. This immunoecological test is based on measuring the magnitude of tissue swelling response at specific times following subcutaneous application of an experimental pro-inflammatory stimulant. In the vast majority of studies across vertebrate taxa, phytohemagglutinin (PHA) is used as a universal stimulant. Given the complexity of immune response activation pathways of PHA, however, interpretation of test results can be ambiguous. Goal of this study was to improve methodology of the skin-swelling test to decrease this ambiguity. Here, we present an alternative protocol aimed at facilitating interpretation of skin-swelling data for mammals. Based on previous evidence suggesting that mammalian T cells are readily activated by Concanavalin A (ConA) in vitro, we compared cellular immune responses in vivo to PHA and ConA as an alternative pro-inflammatory stimulant in mice. We measured magnitude of tissue swelling and compared it with intensity of blood cell infiltration into tissue over a 72-hour interval. Our results corroborate that PHA and ConA show important differences in both dynamics and response amplitude in rodents. ConA induces stronger swelling with a distinct leukocyte activity pattern and higher pro-inflammatory cytokine (interleukin 6 [IL-6] and interferon gamma[IFN-γ]) expression than PHA during peak response (24-h post-treatment). Furthermore, unlike PHA, magnitude of swelling was positively associated with cellular activity (number of neutrophils infiltrating tissue) following ConA injection. We conclude that ConA is the more suitable stimulant for skin-swelling tests in mammals. This is because of the molecular binding specificity in the two lectins, that is, ConA specifically activates T cells while PHA also triggers erythroagglutination. We propose that ConA be used in all future ecological testing in mammals as it exhibits better performance and its application facilitates immunological interpretation of skin-swelling test results.

Indexed as

Concanavalin Acytokineecoimmunologyevolutionary immunologyfield immunoecological researchhistologyleucocytesPHA‐induced hypersensitivityphytohemagglutininT‐cell‐mediated immunocompetence

Identifiers

PMID27386096
PMCPMC4931001
OpenAlexW2409942677

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.