Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35621391›Full record

ArticleMolecular ecology2022

Gut microbiota composition does not associate with toxoplasma infection in rats.

Patrick L Taggart, Craig Liddicoat, Wen Han Tong, Martin F Breed, Philip Weinstein, David Wheeler, Ajai Vyas

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular ecology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 29% 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

8 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Toxoplasma-induced behavior changes - is microbial dysbiosis the missing link?Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Changes of gut microbiota structure in rats infected withFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022
    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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Patrick L TaggartSchool of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Roseworthy, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9523-0463
Craig LiddicoatCollege of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4812-7524
Wen Han TongSchool of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (SBS-NTU), Singapore, Singapore.
Martin F BreedCollege of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-7810-9696
Philip WeinsteinSchool of Public Health, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
David WheelerChief Scientist Unit, Department of Primary Industries NSW, Orange, New South Wales, Australia.
Ajai VyasSchool of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University (SBS-NTU), Singapore, Singapore.
Flinders University · AUNanyang Technological University · SGNew South Wales Department of Primary Industries · AUThe University of Adelaide · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Toxoplasma infection in intermediate host species closely associates with inflammation. This association has led to suggestions that the behavioural changes associated with infection may be indirectly driven by the resulting sustained inflammation rather than a direct behavioural manipulation by the parasite. If this is correct, sustained inflammation in chronically infected rodents should present as widespread differences in the gastrointestinal microbiota due to the dependency between the composition of these microbiota and sustained inflammation. We conducted a randomized controlled experiment in rats that were assigned to a Toxoplasma-treatment, placebo-treatment or negative control group. We euthanised rats during the chronic phase of infection, collected their caecal stool samples and sequenced the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize the bacterial community in these samples. Toxoplasma infection did not induce widespread differences in the bacterial community composition of the gastrointestinal tract of rats. Rather, we found sex differences in the bacterial community composition of rats. We conclude that it is unlikely that sustained inflammation is the mechanism driving the highly specific behavioural changes observed in Toxoplasma-positive rats.

Indexed as

Gastrointestinal MicrobiomeToxoplasmaAnimalsBacteriaFemaleInflammationMaleRatsRNA, Ribosomal, 16SRNA, Ribosomal, 16Sbehavioural manipulationinflammationmicrobiomemicrobiotaparasitetoxoplasma

Identifiers

PMID35621391
PMCPMC9546062
OpenAlexW4281727107

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.