Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health最新文献

{"title":"Evolutionary medicine and psychiatry in medical education: a scoping review.","authors":"Gurjot Brar, Eimear Ní Mhuircheartaigh, Krystal Poobalan, John McFarland, Henry O'Connell","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag019","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoag019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Evolutionary medicine (EvMed) and evolutionary psychiatry (EvPsych) apply principles of evolutionary biology to deepen understanding of disease vulnerability, mental health, and clinical reasoning. Despite growing conceptual maturity and relevance across biomedical domains, the extent and nature of their integration into medical and psychiatric education remain unclear.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This scoping review aims to map the education-focused literature on EvMed and EvPsych across undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing professional training contexts, and to characterize the types of educational initiatives, frameworks, and evaluation strategies described.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A scoping review methodology was employed to search multiple databases and supplementary sources systematically. Eligible sources included conceptual curriculum frameworks, descriptive studies of curricular provision or learner attitudes, and interventional or evaluative educational studies. Data were charted and categorized by educational context, study design, and primary educational contribution. Findings were synthesized narratively.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The final 19 articles include conceptual advocacy, curriculum mapping studies, and a smaller number of implementation and evaluation reports. While there is broad agreement regarding the theoretical value of evolutionary perspectives for enhancing clinical understanding and integrative reasoning, formal curricular integration remains uneven. Reported barriers include limited curricular time, faculty expertise, and perceived controversy. Existing educational interventions are typically modular, case-based, and of short duration, with outcomes primarily focused on learner knowledge and attitudes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>EvMed and EvPsych possess a coherent conceptual foundation but remain variably embedded within formal training pathways. Future work should prioritize rigorous evaluation, competency alignment, and scalable implementation strategies to support sustained curricular integration.</p><p><strong>Lay summary: </strong>Evolutionary medicine (EvMed) applies evolutionary biology to explain why humans are vulnerable to disease. This review maps how EvMed and evolutionary psychiatry are taught in medical training. Although widely valued, integration remains uneven. Stronger evaluation and curriculum development are needed to embed evolutionary thinking in clinical education.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13644824/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149135572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring tumorigenesis as a process of phenotypic state-space exploration and selective funneling.","authors":"Frédéric Thomas, Michael L Wong, Robert M Hazen, Antoine M Dujon, Klara Asselin, Jordan Meliani, Beata Ujvari, Mario Campone, Pascal Pujol, Catherine Alix-Panabières, Jean-Pascal Capp, Aurora M Nedelcu","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tumorigenesis is widely studied within evolutionary frameworks, yet integrating genetic, non-genetic, spatial, and collective tumor-level dynamics into a unified description remains challenging. Here, we propose that tumorigenesis can be analyzed as a process in which tumors generate, explore, and filter phenotypic and organizational configurations over time. We use the concepts of phenotypic state-space exploration, selective funneling, and selection for function as an operational framework to describe how tumor systems diversify, become constrained, and stabilize or lose functional organization during cancer progression. In this view, tumors are not only populations of competing clones, but also dynamic systems whose persistence depends on plasticity, tissue constraints, spatial organization, and collective functional states. This perspective helps account for phenotypic plasticity, recurrent tumor architectures, and the emergence of collective properties such as group phenotypic composition. It also generates testable predictions, including convergence toward recurrent functional states, therapy-induced reorganization of accessible phenotypic space, and the disproportionate effect of disrupting key collective functions. By mapping these concepts onto tumor biology, we position cancer as a tractable system for studying constraint-driven tumor evolution and for informing therapeutic strategies that target tumor organization in addition to individual cancer cells.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13623535/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149106277","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lessons from oncology: Can cancer lead the way in resistance management?","authors":"Silvie Huijben, Ernest Boampong, Harley Richker, Beckett Sterner, Carlo C Maley","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolution of resistance to chemical interventions is a widespread challenge in medicine and agriculture, affecting bacteria, viruses, parasites, cancer, pests, and weeds. Many resistance management strategies have been proposed, but empirical comparisons are rare, especially in large-scale systems like agriculture and public health, where populations are difficult to replicate, and interventions cannot easily be tested experimentally. Cancer offers a unique opportunity to study resistance evolution. Because evolution occurs within individual patients, resistance strategies can be tested directly in clinical trials, with each patient serving as an independent replicate. Combined with diverse therapies and experimental models, this makes oncology a powerful system for studying therapeutic resistance. Whether insights from cancer apply to other systems remains an open but testable question. Addressing this could reveal general principles of resistance evolution and help unify currently fragmented approaches to resistance management across disciplines.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-7"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13656319/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149180255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolutionary mismatch between stomach capacity and modern diets: Implications for obesity and metabolic disease.","authors":"Mustafa Allouch, Philippe Attieh, Rawan Abdallah, Khaled El Jamal, Faten Mohtar, Bachir Zreika, Hani Kanso, Hilda E Ghadieh","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag020","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Human gastrointestinal anatomy evolved under conditions of food scarcity, low-caloric-density diets, and high physical activity. In this context, a relatively gastric-accommodation stomach capacity conferred a survival advantage by allowing consumption of large volumes of fibrous, low-energy foods, buffering seasonal shortages, and maximizing intake during rare periods of abundance. Modern food environments, characterized by constant access to energy-dense foods and sedentary lifestyles, have reversed these selective pressures, creating an evolutionary mismatch between ancestral digestive physiology and contemporary diets. This narrative review explores how a digestive architecture shaped by scarcity may become maladaptive in modern high-calorie conditions and examines stomach capacity as an under-recognized contributor to obesity and metabolic disease. Evidence was synthesized from evolutionary biology, anthropology, gastroenterology, and metabolic medicine using literature identified in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (1990-2024). Evolutionary and anthropological evidence suggests that increased gastric volume was advantageous in both pre-agrarian and agrarian societies. In contrast, in modern environments this trait may promote excessive energy intake, delayed satiety, and metabolic dysfunction, particularly in the presence of ultra-processed foods. Clinical observations from bariatric surgery support this framework, as surgical reduction of gastric volume induces rapid metabolic improvements, often preceding significant weight loss. Gastric accommodation capacity, once adaptive, may now contribute to metabolic disease in obesogenic environments, reframing obesity as a predictable consequence of evolutionary mismatch.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13623523/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149106251","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-trait analysis of pigmentation traits in relation to skin and ocular cancers: Relevance for evolutionary medicine.","authors":"Cristina L Abbatangelo, Brendan Newton, Lydia M Li, Esteban J Parra","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>Pigmentary traits (skin, hair, eye colour, tanning response) are epidemiologically linked to skin and ocular cancers, but the extent and nature of shared genetic architecture remain incompletely defined. In this study we explored to what extent pigmentation- and cancer-associated variants exhibit pleiotropy.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>We analyzed genome-wide association studies summary statistics from European populations for skin colour; hair colour (blonde, light brown, red, dark brown, black); eye colour; tanning response; and four cancers: cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM), basal cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and uveal melanoma (UM). Genetic correlations were estimated with LD score regression. Multi-trait and pairwise pleiotropy were tested with Cross-Phenotype Association. We reviewed available colocalization data (COLOC framework) and post-association functional annotation/mapping (e.g. FUMA) to interpret shared signals.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant genetic correlations were observed between multiple pigmentary traits and each cancer. Multi-trait and pairwise analyses identified numerous shared regions, including canonical pigmentation loci (<i>MC1R, ASIP, TYR, BNC2, IRF4, OCA2/HERC2, SLC24A4, DCT, TYRP1</i>). Directions of effect indicated that lighter skin, hair and iris pigmentation and poor tanning were associated with increased risk across cancers. Colocalization data supported shared causal variants at several loci; for UM, variants driving light eye colour at <i>IRF4</i> and <i>HERC2</i> were linked to higher risk.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>Skin and ocular melanomas illustrate evolutionary mismatch: variants favoured at high latitudes for lighter pigmentation now elevate cancer risk under modern UV exposure. Mapping shared architecture highlights biological pathways that may refine risk prediction, motivate functional studies, and inform prevention strategies.</p><p><strong>Lay summary: </strong>Using genome-wide data, we examined how genes shaping human pigmentation relate to risk of skin and eye melanomas. Multi-trait analyses revealed shared genetics: lighter skin, hair and eye colour, and poor tanning, increased cancer risk. Findings illustrate evolutionary mismatch and highlight pathways that guide prevention, risk prediction, and future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13656177/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149180241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Running wild: Forest running enhances performance, enjoyment, mood, and future exercise intentions.","authors":"Matthew J Putland, Stephen J Bailey, Bryna C R Chrismas, Stacy Clemes, Morgan Ewers, Yu-Ling Ho, Eloise Jones, Adelina Lintuluoto, Kirsten McEwan, Riddhi Naik, Hanna L Rahimi, Hongbin Xiang, Erik P Willems, Colin N Shaw, Daniel P Longman","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>Physical inactivity remains widespread despite the well-established physical and mental health benefits of regular physical activity (PA). There is an urgent need for strategies that increase both uptake and long-term adherence. The <i>Environmental Mismatch Hypothesis</i> proposes that natural environments may increase both engagement and performance of PA.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>Forty-seven healthy adults (16 females) completed a randomized, counterbalanced crossover trial. Participants undertook a 30-min self-paced run in both a forest and an urban environment at a prescribed exertion level (rate of perceived exertion = 4/10). Performance (distance run, heart rate) and markers of intention to perform future PA (enjoyment, mood, short-, and long-term intention) were assessed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants covered significantly greater distance in the forest condition (<i>P</i> = .036, Cohen's <i>dz</i> = 0.2) with heart rate and rate of perceived exertion comparable to the urban setting. Forest-based exercise also elicited significantly greater enjoyment (<i>P</i> < .001, <i>dz</i> = 1.3), improved post-exercise mood (<i>P</i> < .001, <i>dz</i> = 0.7) and far greater intention to engage in future PA (short-term <i>dz</i> = 2.1; long-term <i>dz</i> = 2.0; both <i>P</i> < .001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>Forest-based running was associated with improved performance, enjoyment, mood, and motivation for future PA, relative to urban running, without an increase in physiological strain. These findings reveal that natural environments offer a promising and scalable approach to addressing physical inactivity and improving population health. Further research is required to determine the environmental drivers, the feasibility, accessibility, and long-term effects across diverse and inactive populations.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13623525/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149106313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physical activity and cardiometabolic health across an extreme lifestyle gradient.","authors":"Thomas S Kraft, Ian J Wallace, Yvonne A L Lim, Kar Lye Tam, Tan Bee Ting A/P Tan Boon Huat, Steven K W Chow, Kamal Solhaimi Bin Fadzil, Colin Nicholas, Izandis Bin Mohd Sayed, Vivek V Venkataraman, Amanda J Lea","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>Cardiometabolic health in many small-scale subsistence populations has been shown to be substantially better than populations living in industrialized, urban environments. This disparity is often partially attributed to the characteristically high levels of physical activity observed in non-industrialized societies, yet it remains unclear how much of the difference in cardiometabolic health between non-industrialized and industrialized populations is due specifically to physical activity rather than to other lifestyle factors that covary with industrialization.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>To address this question, we collected objective data on physical activity (as characterized by daily step counts, time spent inactive, and intensity gradient, among other measures), cardiometabolic biomarker profiles (16 measures: anthropometrics, blood lipids, blood pressure, obesity, hypertension, pre-diabetes, and diabetes), and detailed lifestyle information from 1075 Orang Asli adults in Peninsular Malaysia, who span an exceptionally wide lifestyle gradient from small-scale subsistence communities to urban, industrialized settings.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>More urban and market-integrated lifestyles were associated with marked reductions in physical activity, particularly among older individuals, and with poorer cardiometabolic health. At the individual level, greater physical activity was directly associated with better cardiometabolic health. However, physical activity accounted for only a small portion of urbanization's association with cardiometabolic health, indicating that other industrialization-related factors play substantial roles in shaping health outcomes.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>These findings suggest that declining physical activity represents an evolutionarily novel challenge that exacerbates the burden of cardiometabolic disease, especially among older adults, in contemporary industrialized environments.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-15"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13489160/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148790212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quarantine as filter: a conceptual framework from early modern Venice.","authors":"Andrea Vianello, Robert H Tykot, Swamy R Adapa, Gloria C Ferreira, Gregory O'Corry-Crowe, Rays H Y Jiang","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoag016","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lazzaretto Vecchio, founded in 1423 in the Venetian lagoon, is recognized as the earliest permanent quarantine hospital. For nearly three centuries it operated at a major maritime frontier. Historical records describe extensive epidemic mortality and mandate burial on quarantine islands, leading to the long-standing model of a Venetian plague house dominated by resident burials (H1). Yet the island's physical capacity is insufficient to accommodate all documented epidemic deaths, exposing a persistent discrepancy between archaeological evidence and early modern narratives of epidemic containment. Here, we synthesize historical, archaeological, and demographic evidence and argue that the available evidence does not support the interpretation of Lazzaretto Vecchio as a comprehensive cemetery for Venice's epidemic dead. Instead, the burial assemblage is most consistent with selective demographic filtering associated with quarantine practice. We present two complementary explanatory models: (H2A) the Ellis Island Effect, dominated by intercepted travelers; and (H2B) the Secret Republic Fire, in which peak urban mortality was diverted through undocumented crisis disposal. Together, H2A and H2B describe a dual-regime containment system most consistent with the available evidence. By reframing quarantine as an active filtering process rather than a passive repository of epidemic mortality, this perspective highlights how governance and infrastructure shaped the burial record and created a unique opportunity to reconstruct infectious disease diversity and evolutionary trajectories across three centuries.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13489157/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148790226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The evaluation of facial features as markers of cardiometabolic health in women of post-reproductive age.","authors":"Weronika M Obrochta, Urszula M Marcinkowska, Matthew E Ball, Rebecca S A Brittain, Andrzej Galbarczyk, Magdalena Klimek, Ilona Nenko, Ian D Stephen, Sonja Windhager, Grazyna Jasienska","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag014","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoag014","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The early-life environment has a significant influence on health in later life, including the risk of cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs). Several biomarkers have been proposed as putative indicators of early-life environmental quality, including facial fluctuating asymmetry (FA) and facial averageness (AVE). This study aimed to explore the association between facial FA and AVE with CMDs risk factors in women of post-reproductive age.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The participants were 248 post-reproductive women (M = 61.6, SD = 10.70) from the Mogielica Human Ecology Study Site in Poland. Standardized facial photographs were taken, and FA and AVE were calculated using geometric morphometrics. Fasting blood samples were collected, and blood pressure was measured directly. Body composition was assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis. CMDs risk factors included blood pressure, total cholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoproteins, triglycerides, and glucose levels. Additionally, the risk of metabolic syndrome was determined for each participant. Cardiovascular disease risk was also evaluated using the Systematic Coronary Risk Estimation scale (SCORE). FA and AVE were modelled separately against each CMDs risk factor using hierarchical linear and logistic models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>No statistically significant associations were found between either FA or AVE and individual CMDs risk factors. Similarly, no relationships were observed between facial measurements and either SCORE or metabolic syndrome risk. Follow-up Bayesian analyses provided evidence that FA and AVE did not predict CMDs risk factors.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>While facial asymmetry and averageness may influence perceptions of health, they are unlikely to serve as biomarkers of CMDs risk in older women.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"eoag014"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13387495/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148548551","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Amazonian Shuar testosterone levels are related to parasite infection: immunocompetence handicap hypothesis implications.","authors":"Theresa E Gildner, Aaron D Blackwell, Melissa A Liebert, Samuel S Urlacher, Tara J Cepon-Robins, Joshua M Schrock, Richard G Bribiescas, Felicia C Madimenos, J Josh Snodgrass, Lawrence S Sugiyama","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoag013","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoag013","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Testosterone is hypothesized to influence energetic tradeoffs between male reproduction and immune function. Testosterone is generally thought to be immunosuppressive, with high testosterone levels signaling male health and infection resistance. The Immunocompetence Handicap Hypothesis (ICHH) posits that testosterone's role in developing male secondary sexual characteristics and suppressing immune function creates a tradeoff between testosterone-linked traits and immunocompetence. Yet, the immune effects of testosterone in humans remain poorly understood. Research is particularly limited among energetically constrained, natural fertility populations characterized by high pathogen loads and long-lasting infections (such as parasitic disease), characteristics relevant to the evolution of hypothesized testosterone-linked tradeoffs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We test whether salivary testosterone concentrations are associated with parasitic helminth infection status and parasite load among 90 Indigenous Shuar males aged 12-67 years.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Higher testosterone levels were associated with increased infection risk but lower parasite load. However, these findings were only evident among adolescents (ages 12-19) and only for <i>Trichuris trichiura</i> (whipworm) but not <i>Ascaris lumbricoides</i> (roundworm) infections.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These findings suggest higher testosterone may increase the risk of becoming infected with some parasite species, but that heavy pathogen loads lead to a shift in resource allocation from testosterone production to immune activity during a life stage with high testosterone-related energetic demands. While some results aligned with the ICHH, the significant effects of participant age and parasite species on testosterone-infection associations indicate that the ICHH does not completely capture the full complexity of human immune-related life history tradeoffs and variation in host-parasite interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"14 1","pages":"eoag013"},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13395098/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148577517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}