Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33028304›Full record

SynthesisBMC biology2020

Effects of immune challenge on expression of life-history and immune trait expression in sexually reproducing metazoans-a meta-analysis.

M Nystrand, D K Dowling

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC biology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
17citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
8.7field-weighted citation impact, top 3% 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

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 40 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

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

M NystrandSchool of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia. magdalena.nystrand@monash.edu.ORCID 0000-0002-8854-3928
D K DowlingSchool of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, 3800, Australia.ORCID 0000-0003-2209-3458
Monash University · AU

Funding

Australian Research Council DP110104965Monash University Margaret Clayton Women in Research Postdoctoral Fellowship
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLife-history theory predicts a trade-off between investment into immune defence and other fitness-related traits. Accordingly, individuals are expected to upregulate their immune response when subjected to immune challenge. However, this is predicted to come at the expense of investment into a range of other traits that are costly to maintain, such as growth, reproduction and survival. Currently, it remains unclear whether the magnitude of such costs, and trade-offs involving immune investment and other traits, manifests consistently across species and sexes. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis to investigate how changes in sex, ontogenetic stage and environmental factors shape phenotypic trait expression following an immune challenge.

resultsWe explored the effects of immune challenge on three types of traits across sexually reproducing metazoans: life-history, morphological and proximate immune traits (235 effect sizes, 53 studies, 37 species [21 invertebrates vs. 16 vertebrates]). We report a general negative effect of immune challenge on survival and reproduction, a positive effect on immune trait expression, but no effect on morphology or development time. The negative effects of immune challenge on reproductive traits and survival were larger in females than males. We also report a pronounced effect of the immune treatment agent used (e.g. whether the treatment involved a live pathogen or not) on the host response to immune challenge, and find an effect of mating status on the host response in invertebrates.

conclusionThese results suggest that costs associated with immune deployment following an immune challenge are context-dependent and differ consistently in their magnitude across the sexes of diverse taxonomic lineages. We synthesise and discuss the outcomes in the context of evolutionary theory on sex differences in life-history and highlight the need for future studies to carefully consider the design of experiments aimed at disentangling the costs of immune deployment.

Indexed as

Life History TraitsAnimalsBiological EvolutionEnvironmentFemaleGrowthImmune SystemInvertebratesMaleSex CharacteristicsSex FactorsVertebratesContext-dependenceImmune challengeLife-history trade-offsPhenotypeSex-specificSexually dimorphic

Identifiers

PMID33028304
PMCPMC7541220
OpenAlexW3091926782

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.