Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40581054›Full record

ArticleGeneral and comparative endocrinology2025

Early development of the glucocorticoid stress response in dyeing poison frog tadpoles.

Lisa L Surber-Cunningham, Lucas S Jimenez, Lauren W Mobo, Sarah E Westrick, Eva K Fischer

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in General and comparative endocrinology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Why not both? A case study in measuring cortisol and corticosterone.Integrative organismal biology (Oxford, England) · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Lisa L Surber-CunninghamDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA. Electronic address: lsurber2@illinois.edu.
Lucas S JimenezDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Lauren W MoboDepartment of Natural Sciences, Parkland College, Champaign IL, USA.
Sarah E WestrickDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
Eva K FischerDepartment of Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA; Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.

Funding

Genomic mechanisms of violent juvenile aggressionR35GM147207 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · PI Eva K Fischer · 2022 to 2026
$1.9M
NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM147207
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In vertebrates, the glucocorticoid "stress" response (corticosterone or cortisol) through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis influences many essential functions, including behavior, metabolism, immunity, and ontogenetic transitions. During development, stress responses can be adaptive if they facilitate antipredator behavior and modulate developmental speed to adjust to environmental conditions; however, these same responses can be maladaptive when energetic costs become too high and developmental speed trades-off with size and health at maturity. Thus, the timing of HPA-axis development may be aligned with specific developmental challenges and opportunities presented by a species' life history strategy. In anurans (frogs and toads), corticosterone plays critical roles in development and behavior, and concentrations can fluctuate in response to environmental stressors. Given the role of corticosterone in ontogenetic changes and behaviors, we studied the development of the glucocorticoid stress response in tadpoles of the dyeing poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius), a species with a unique life history that includes transport to water after hatching on land and aggressive and cannibalistic behavior. We measured the excretion rate and whole-body concentration of corticosterone and the corticosterone response to adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in free-swimming tadpoles after transport and throughout metamorphosis. We found no significant differences across development in excretion rates or whole-body concentration of corticosterone, nor corticosterone response to ACTH, indicating that that the glucocorticoid response develops early in ontogeny. This pattern differs from those in other species, suggesting the unique ecological pressures faced by D. tinctorius have shaped the development of the glucocorticoid stress response in this species. More broadly, this study illustrates how life history strategies and tradeoffs impact the timing of the development of stress responsivity.

Indexed as

AnuraGlucocorticoidsStress, PhysiologicalAnimalsCorticosteroneHypothalamo-Hypophyseal SystemLarvaPituitary-Adrenal SystemPoison FrogsCorticosteroneGlucocorticoidsACTH challengeAnuransDevelopmentHPALarvae

Identifiers

PMID40581054
PMCPMC13254830

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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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.