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Stress hormones predict a host superspreader phenotype in the West Nile virus system

Overview of attention for article published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, July 2017
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  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (99th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (95th percentile)

Mentioned by

news
43 news outlets
blogs
3 blogs
twitter
34 X users
facebook
1 Facebook page

Citations

dimensions_citation
38 Dimensions

Readers on

mendeley
77 Mendeley
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Title
Stress hormones predict a host superspreader phenotype in the West Nile virus system
Published in
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, July 2017
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2017.1090
Pubmed ID
Authors

Stephanie S. Gervasi, Sarah C. Burgan, Erik Hofmeister, Thomas R. Unnasch, Lynn B. Martin

Abstract

Glucocorticoid stress hormones, such as corticosterone (CORT), have profound effects on the behaviour and physiology of organisms, and thus have the potential to alter host competence and the contributions of individuals to population- and community-level pathogen dynamics. For example, CORT could alter the rate of contacts among hosts, pathogens and vectors through its widespread effects on host metabolism and activity levels. CORT could also affect the intensity and duration of pathogen shedding and risk of host mortality during infection. We experimentally manipulated songbird CORT, asking how CORT affected behavioural and physiological responses to a standardized West Nile virus (WNV) challenge. Although all birds became infected after exposure to the virus, only birds with elevated CORT had viral loads at or above the infectious threshold. Moreover, though the rate of mortality was faster in birds with elevated CORT compared with controls, most hosts with elevated CORT survived past the day of peak infectiousness. CORT concentrations just prior to inoculation with WNV and anti-inflammatory cytokine concentrations following viral exposure were predictive of individual duration of infectiousness and the ability to maintain physical performance during infection (i.e. tolerance), revealing putative biomarkers of competence. Collectively, our results suggest that glucocorticoid stress hormones could directly and indirectly mediate the spread of pathogens.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 34 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 77 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 77 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 17 22%
Researcher 14 18%
Student > Bachelor 10 13%
Student > Master 9 12%
Other 6 8%
Other 11 14%
Unknown 10 13%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 39 51%
Environmental Science 8 10%
Immunology and Microbiology 6 8%
Business, Management and Accounting 3 4%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 4%
Other 7 9%
Unknown 11 14%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 375. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 24 April 2022.
All research outputs
#83,443
of 25,382,440 outputs
Outputs from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
#169
of 11,331 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#1,906
of 325,062 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
#7
of 156 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,382,440 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 99th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 11,331 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 40.4. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 325,062 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 99% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 156 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.