Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37424020›Full record

ArticleBMC biology2023

Sensing and avoiding sick conspecifics requires Gαi2

Jan Weiss, Hélène Vacher, Anne-Charlotte Trouillet, Trese Leinders-Zufall, Frank Zufall, Pablo Chamero

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. The Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Prosocial Behavior toward Others in Negative State.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Calcium Imaging in Olfaction: Non-rodent Mammalian Species.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2025
    Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
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 2 countries.

Jan WeissCenter for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, 66421, Homburg, Germany. jan.weiss@uks.eu.
Hélène Vacher *Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 0085 INRAE-CNRS-IFCE-University of Tours, Nouzilly, France.
Anne-Charlotte Trouillet *Laboratoire de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 0085 INRAE-CNRS-IFCE-University of Tours, Nouzilly, France.
Trese Leinders-ZufallCenter for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, 66421, Homburg, Germany.
Frank ZufallCenter for Integrative Physiology and Molecular Medicine, Saarland University, 66421, Homburg, Germany. frank.zufall@uks.eu.
Pablo ChameroLaboratoire de Physiologie de la Reproduction et des Comportements, UMR 0085 INRAE-CNRS-IFCE-University of Tours, Nouzilly, France. pablo.chamero-benito@inrae.fr.ORCID 0000-0002-4305-1073
Saarland University · DEUniversité de Tours · FRCentre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRodents utilize chemical cues to recognize and avoid other conspecifics infected with pathogens. Infection with pathogens and acute inflammation alter the repertoire and signature of olfactory stimuli emitted by a sick individual. These cues are recognized by healthy conspecifics via the vomeronasal or accessory olfactory system, triggering an innate form of avoidance behavior. However, the molecular identity of the sensory neurons and the higher neural circuits involved in the detection of sick conspecifics remain poorly understood.

resultsWe employed mice that are in an acute state of inflammation induced by systemic administration of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Through conditional knockout of the G-protein Gαi2 and deletion of other key sensory transduction molecules (Trpc2 and a cluster of 16 vomeronasal type 1 receptors), in combination with behavioral testing, subcellular Ca

conclusionsOur physiological and behavioral analyses indicate that the sensing and avoidance of LPS-treated sick conspecifics depend on the Gαi2 vomeronasal subsystem. Our observations point to a central role of brain circuits downstream of the olfactory periphery and in the lateral habenula in the detection and avoidance of sick conspecifics, providing new insights into the neural substrates and circuit logic of the sensing of inflammation in mice.

Indexed as

Vomeronasal OrganAnimalsBrainInflammationLipopolysaccharidesMiceSensory Receptor CellsLipopolysaccharidesAvoidance behaviorCa2+ imagingDendritic knobGαi2InflammationLateral habenulaLPSOlfactoryV1RVomeronasal organ

Identifiers

PMID37424020
PMCPMC10332101
OpenAlexW4383681857

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.