Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34589770›Full record

ArticleBrain, behavior, & immunity - health2021

Inflammation plays a causal role in fatigue-like behavior induced by pelvic irradiation in mice.

Brian S Wolff, Sarah A Alshawi, Li Rebekah Feng, Paul L Juneau, Leorey N Saligan

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Brain, behavior, & immunity - health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
0.8field-weighted citation impact, top 28% 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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. The metabolic basis of cancer-related fatigue.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2025
    Review
  3. Review
  4. Metabolic underpinnings of cancer-related fatigue.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism · 2024
    Review
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. Article
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

5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Brian S WolffNational Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Sarah A AlshawiNational Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Li Rebekah FengNational Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Paul L JuneauNIH Library, Office of Research Services, OD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA/Contractor- Zimmerman Associates, Inc., Fairfax, VA, USA.
Leorey N SaliganNational Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
National Institutes of Health · USNational Institute of Nursing Research · USZimmerman Associates (United States) · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fatigue is a persistent and debilitating symptom following radiation therapy for prostate cancer. However, it is not well-understood how radiation targeted to a small region of the body can lead to broad changes in behavior. In this study, we used targeted pelvic irradiation of healthy male mice to test whether inflammatory signaling mediates changes in voluntary physical activity levels. First, we tested the relationship between radiation dose, blood cell counts, and fatigue-like behavior measured as voluntary wheel-running activity. Next, we used oral minocycline treatments to reduce inflammation and found that minocycline reduces, but does not eliminate, the fatigue-like behavioral changes induced by radiation. We also used a strain of mice lacking the MyD88 adaptor protein and found that these mice also showed less fatigue-like behavior than the wild-type controls. Finally, using serum and brain tissue samples, we determined changes in inflammatory signaling induced by irradiation in wild-type, minocycline treated, and MyD88 knockout mice. We found that irradiation increased serum levels of IL-6, a change that was partially reversed in mice treated with minocycline or lacking MyD88. Overall, our results suggest that inflammation plays a causal role in radiation-induced fatigue and that IL-6 may be an important mediator.

Indexed as

Cancer-related fatigueCCL, chemokine (CC) ligandCD30 L, CD30 ligandCFS, chronic fatigue syndromeCRF, cancer-related fatigueCXCL, chemokine (CXC) ligandCytokinesFas-L, Fas LigandFatigueFGF, fibroblast growth factorG-CSF, granulocyte colony-stimulating factorGM-CSF, granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factorICAM, intercellular adhesion moleculeIFN, interferonIL, interleukinInflammationLIF, leukemia inhibitory factorM-CSF, macrophage colony-stimulating factorMCV, mean corpuscular volumeMinocyclinemyd88MyD88, myeloid differentiation primary response 88 proteinPDGF-bb, platelet-derived growth factor subunit BRadiotherapyRANTES, regulated on activation normal T cell expressed and secretedRBC, red blood cellTIMP, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinasesTLR, toll-like receptorTNF, tumor necrosis factorVEGF, vascular endothelial growth factorVoluntary wheel-running activityVWRA, voluntary wheel running activityWBC, white blood cell

Identifiers

PMID34589770
PMCPMC8474574
OpenAlexW3161510268

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.