ArticlePloS one2020
Reproduction affects immune defenses in the guinea pig even under ad libitum food.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Environmental temperature and immune activation during development: effects on organ growth in juvenile degus.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2025Article
- The Connection between Immunocompetence and Reproduction in Wildlife.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The cost of host genetic resistance on body condition: Evidence from divergently selected sheep.Evolutionary applications · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Reproduction is one of the costliest processes in the life of an animal. Life history theory assumes that when resources are limiting allocation to reproduction will reduce allocation to other essential processes thereby inducing costs of reproduction. The immune system is vital for survival. If reproduction reduces investment in immune function, this could increase the risk of disease, morbidity and mortality. We here test in the guinea pig, if even under ad libitum food conditions, pregnancy and lactation reduce the activity of the adaptive and innate immune system compared to the reaction of non-reproducing animals. In response to a challenge with keyhole limpet haemocyanin the antibody-mediated adaptive immunity during (pregnancy and) lactation was reduced. Pregnant and lactating females showed higher levels of bacterial killing activity, an integrated measure of innate immunity, than non-reproducing females. However, two major effectors of the innate immunity, the natural antibody and the complement of pregnant and lactating females showed lower levels than in non-reproducing females. Pregnant and lactating females did not differ significantly in the expressed levels of innate immunity. Our results indicate that changes in the immune response during reproduction are physiological adjustments to predictable allocation problems, because they happen even under ad libitum food availability.
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Registered trials
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