Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39842489›Full record

ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2025

Time to start taking time seriously: how to investigate unexpected biological rhythms within infectious disease research.

Rachel S Edgar, Aidan J O'Donnell, Alan Xiaodong Zhuang, Sarah E Reece

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

4 authors.

Rachel S EdgarDepartment of Infectious Disease, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-3348-0851
Aidan J O'DonnellInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.ORCID 0000-0003-3503-094X
Alan Xiaodong Zhuang4. Division of Infection and Immunity, Institute of Immunity and Transplantation, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-6870-9003
Sarah E ReeceInstitute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FL, UK.ORCID 0000-0001-6716-6732

Funding

Medical Research CouncilWellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The discovery of rhythmicity in host and pathogen activities dates back to the Hippocratic era, but the causes and consequences of these biological rhythms have remained poorly understood. Rhythms in infection phenotypes or traits are observed across taxonomically diverse hosts and pathogens, suggesting general evolutionary principles. Understanding these principles may enable rhythms to be leveraged in manners that improve drug and vaccine efficacy or disrupt pathogen timekeeping to reduce virulence and transmission. Explaining and exploiting rhythms in infections require an integrative and multidisciplinary approach, which is a hallmark of research within chronobiology. Many researchers are welcomed into chronobiology from other fields after observing an unexpected rhythm or time-of-day effect in their data. Such findings can launch a rich new research topic, but engaging with the concepts, approaches and dogma in a new discipline can be daunting. Fortunately, chronobiology has well-developed frameworks for interrogating rhythms that can be readily applied in novel contexts. Here, we provide a 'how to' guide for exploring unexpected daily rhythms in infectious disease research. We outline how to establish: whether the rhythm is circadian, to what extent the host and pathogen are responsible, the relevance for host-pathogen interactions, and how to explore therapeutic potential.This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue 'Circadian rhythms in infection and immunity'.

Indexed as

Chronobiology DisciplineChronobiology PhenomenaCircadian RhythmCommunicable DiseasesHost-Pathogen InteractionsAnimalsHumanscircadian clockfitnesshost–parasite interactionimmune responserhythmsseasonal

Identifiers

PMID39842489
PMCPMC11753885

What Socratic 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 Socratic graph.