{"title":"Survival of quick problem solver!","authors":"Mesut Tez","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae028","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoae028","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"227-228"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11538417/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142589315","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":"Sexual conflict over sex-an underappreciated consequence of childbirth?","authors":"C Ruth Archer, Meaghan Castledine, David J Hosken","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many postpartum women experience sexual dysfunction, characterised by reduced sexual motivation and libido, and pain during intercourse. Menstruation is also suppressed in breastfeeding women (lactational amenorrhoea). Lactational amenorrhoea has been discussed in an evolutionary context due to its positive impacts on birth spacing. In contrast, postpartum sexual dysfunction has not been viewed through an evolutionary lens. Might postpartum sexual dysfunction also be under selection? We discuss possible evolutionary explanations for postpartum sexual dysfunction. In particular, we suggest that sexual conflict, a widespread phenomenon that occurs when the evolutionary interests of males and females diverge, may be a cause of disrupted postpartum sex. This sexual conflict-based explanation generates predictions relevant to the health and well-being of new mothers that warrant testing.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"242-247"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11555270/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142617552","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":"Lonely, stressed-out moms: Does the postindustrial social experience put women at risk for perinatal mood disorders?","authors":"Elena Bridgers, Molly M Fox","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae025","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoae025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) are estimated to affect as many as 17.7% of mothers in agricultural and postindustrial societies. Various lines of research converge to suggest that PMADs may be 'diseases of modernity', arising from a mismatch between the environments in which humans evolved over hundreds of thousands of years and contemporary postindustrial lifestyles. Here we highlight the social context of childrearing by focusing on three sources of mismatch associated with PMADs: closer interbirth spacing, lack of allomaternal support and lack of prior childcare experience. The transitions to agriculture and industrialization disrupted traditional maternal support networks, allowing closer birth spacing without compromising infant survival but increasing maternal isolation. Caring for closely spaced offspring is associated with high levels of parenting stress, and poses a particular challenge in the context of social isolation. The mother's kin and community play a critical role in allomothering (childcare participation) in all contemporary hunter-gatherer societies, facilitating a system of simultaneous care for children of a range of ages with unique age-specific needs. The absence of social support and assistance from allomothers in postindustrial societies leaves mothers at increased risk for PMADs due to elevated caregiving burdens. Furthermore, the traditional system of allomothering that typified human evolutionary history afforded girls and women experience and training before motherhood, which likely increased their self-efficacy. We argue that the typical postindustrial motherhood social experience is an evolutionary anomaly, leading to higher rates of PMADs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"204-213"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11502676/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142497697","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}
Lev Kolinski, Tyler M Barrett, Randall A Kramer, Charles L Nunn
{"title":"How market integration impacts human disease ecology.","authors":"Lev Kolinski, Tyler M Barrett, Randall A Kramer, Charles L Nunn","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae026","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Market integration (MI), or the shift from subsistence to market-based livelihoods, profoundly influences health, yet its impacts on infectious diseases remain underexplored. Here, we synthesize the current understanding of MI and infectious disease to stimulate more research, specifically aiming to leverage concepts and tools from disease ecology and related fields to generate testable hypotheses. Embracing a One Health perspective, we examine both human-to-human and zoonotic transmission pathways in their environmental contexts to assess how MI alters infectious disease exposure and susceptibility in beneficial, detrimental and mixed ways. For human-to-human transmission, we consider how markets expand contact networks in ways that facilitate infectious disease transmission while also increasing access to hygiene products and housing materials that likely reduce infections. For zoonotic transmission, MI influences exposures to pathogens through agricultural intensification and other market-driven processes that may increase or decrease human encounters with disease reservoirs or vectors in their shared environments. We also consider how MI-driven changes in noncommunicable diseases affect immunocompetence and susceptibility to infectious disease. Throughout, we identify statistical, survey and laboratory methods from ecology and the social sciences that will advance interdisciplinary research on MI and infectious disease.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"229-241"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11544622/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142617464","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":"Phenome-wide association study of population-differentiating genetic variants around gene <i>ACSL1</i>.","authors":"Shuang Yang, Houjian Cai, Kaixiong Ye","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae024","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoae024","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background and objectives: </strong>Demographic dynamics and natural selection during human evolution shaped the present-day patterns of genetic variations, and geographically varying genetic factors contribute to different disease prevalences across human populations. This study aims to evaluate the presence of positive selection on the gene encoding long-chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetase 1 (<i>ACSL1</i>) and the phenotypic impacts of population-differentiating genetic variants around this gene.</p><p><strong>Methodology: </strong>Three types of statistical tests for positive selection, based on site frequency spectrum, extended haplotype homozygosity and population differentiation, were applied to the whole-genome sequencing data from the 1000 Genomes Project. A phenome-wide association study of <i>ACSL1</i> was performed with published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and transcriptome-wide association studies, including phenome-wide studies in biobanks.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Genetic variants associated with <i>ACSL1</i> expression in various tissues exhibit geographically varying allele frequencies. Three types of statistical tests consistently supported the presence of positive selection on the coding and regulatory regions of <i>ACSL1</i> in African, European, South Asian and East Asian populations. A phenome-wide association study of <i>ACSL1</i> revealed associations with type 2 diabetes, blood glucose, age at menopause, mean platelet volume and mean reticulocyte volume. The top allele associated with lower diabetes risk has the highest frequency in European populations, whereas the top allele associated with later menopause has the highest frequency in African populations.</p><p><strong>Conclusions and implications: </strong>Positive selection on <i>ACSL1</i> resulted in geographically varying genetic variants, which may contribute to differential phenotypes across human populations, including type 2 diabetes and age at menopause.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"178-190"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11462608/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142389196","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}
Frédéric Thomas, James DeGregori, Andriy Marusyk, Antoine M Dujon, Beata Ujvari, Jean-Pascal Capp, Robert Gatenby, Aurora M Nedelcu
{"title":"A new perspective on tumor progression: Evolution via selection for function.","authors":"Frédéric Thomas, James DeGregori, Andriy Marusyk, Antoine M Dujon, Beata Ujvari, Jean-Pascal Capp, Robert Gatenby, Aurora M Nedelcu","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae021","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoae021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tumorigenesis is commonly attributed to Darwinian processes involving natural selection among cells and groups of cells. However, progressing tumors are those that also achieve an appropriate group phenotypic composition (GPC). Yet, the selective processes acting on tumor GPCs are distinct from that associated with classical Darwinian evolution (i.e. natural selection based on differential reproductive success) as tumors are not genuine evolutionary individuals and do not exhibit heritable variation in fitness. This complex evolutionary scenario is analogous to the recently proposed concept of 'selection for function' invoked for the evolution of both living and non-living systems. Therefore, we argue that it is inaccurate to assert that Darwinian processes alone account for all the aspects characterizing tumorigenesis and cancer progression; rather, by producing the genetic and phenotypic diversity required for creating novel GPCs, these processes fuel the evolutionary success of tumors that is dependent on selection for function at the tumor level.</p>","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"172-177"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11448472/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142374004","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}
Melissa B Manus, Maria Luisa Savo Sardaro, Omolola Dada, Maya Davis, Melissa R Romoff, Stephanie G Torello, Esther Ubadigbo, Rebecca C Wu, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Melissa K Melby, Emily S Miller, Katherine R Amato
{"title":"Birth and household exposures are associated with changes to skin bacterial communities during infancy","authors":"Melissa B Manus, Maria Luisa Savo Sardaro, Omolola Dada, Maya Davis, Melissa R Romoff, Stephanie G Torello, Esther Ubadigbo, Rebecca C Wu, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Melissa K Melby, Emily S Miller, Katherine R Amato","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae023","url":null,"abstract":"Microbial exposures during infancy shape the development of the microbiome, the collection of microbes living in and on the body, which in turn directs immune system training. Newborns acquire a substantial quantity of microbes during birth and throughout infancy via exposure to microbes in the physical and social environment. Alterations to early life microbial environments may give rise to mismatches, where environmental, cultural, and behavioral changes that outpace the body’s adaptive responses can lead to adverse health outcomes, particularly those related to microbiome development and immune system regulation. This study explored the development of the skin microbiome among infants born in Chicago, USA. We collected skin swab microbiome samples from 22 mother-infant dyads during the first 48 hours of life and again at six weeks postpartum. Mothers provided information about social environments and hygiene behaviors that may impact infants’ microbial exposures. Analysis of 16S rRNA bacterial gene sequencing data revealed correlations between infant skin bacterial abundance shortly after birth and factors such as antibiotic exposure and receiving a bath in the hospital. The composition of the infant microbiome at six weeks of age was associated with interactions with caregivers and infant feeding practices. We also found shifts in maternal skin microbiomes that may reflect increased hygiene practices in the hospital. Our data suggest that factors related to the birth and household environment can impact the development of infant skin microbiomes and point to practices that may produce mismatches for the infant microbiome and immune system.","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"42 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142255459","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rose Stevens, Alexandra Alvergne, Virginia J Vitzthum
{"title":"Low haemoglobin in arduous seasons is associated with reduced chance of ovulation among women living in the Bolivian altiplano","authors":"Rose Stevens, Alexandra Alvergne, Virginia J Vitzthum","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae022","url":null,"abstract":"Background and objectives Female reproductive function flexibly responds to ecological variation in energy availability, but the roles of other ecologically limited resources, such as iron, remain poorly understood. This analysis investigates whether haemoglobin associates with investment in reproductive function in a rural natural fertility population living in the Bolivian altiplano. Methodology We conducted a cross-sectional secondary analysis of prospectively collected biomarker and sociodemographic data, comprising 152 menstrual cycles from 96 non-contracepting women living at 3800m altitude. Multivariable multilevel models were used to investigate (1) whether haemoglobin concentration is associated with ecological variation in subsistence strategy and seasonal conditions, and (2) whether haemoglobin concentration is associated with the occurrence of ovulation and/or the concentration of luteal progesterone, two biomarkers of current investment in reproduction. Results Haemoglobin concentrations were lower in arduous seasons among those women more dependent on traditional agropastoral subsistence strategies (β = -0.42, 95% CI: -0.80 to -0.04, p = 0.032). During more arduous seasons, a 1 standard deviation increase in haemoglobin was associated with an over 3-fold increase in the odds of ovulation after adjusting for body fat, breastfeeding status, and age (adjusted odds ratio = 3.27, 95% CI: 1.10 to 9.27, p = 0.033). Conclusions and implications When conditions are relatively harsh and may be expected to improve, low haemoglobin levels are associated with lower current investment in reproduction and reduced fecundity. These results support the role of iron, independent of energy stores, as a limiting resource in modulating reproductive trade-offs.","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142255460","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guillain-Barré syndrome.","authors":"Nicholas Shedd, Peter Woods, Damon Hoad","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae020","DOIUrl":"10.1093/emph/eoae020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"12 1","pages":"eoae020"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11445677/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142364953","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":"Diagnostic testing and the evolution of detection avoidance by pathogens","authors":"Jason Wood, Ben Ashby","doi":"10.1093/emph/eoae018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoae018","url":null,"abstract":"Diagnostic testing is a key tool in the fight against many infectious diseases. The emergence of pathogen variants that are able to avoid detection by diagnostic testing therefore represents a key challenge for public health. In recent years, variants for multiple pathogens have emerged which escape diagnostic testing, including mutations in Plasmodium falciparum (malaria), Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). However, little is currently known about when and the extent to which diagnostic test escape will evolve. Here we use a mathematical model to explore how the frequency of diagnostic testing, combined with variation in compliance and efficacy of isolating, together drive the evolution of detection avoidance. We derive key thresholds under which a testing regime will (i) select for diagnostic test avoidance, or (ii) drive the pathogen extinct. Crucially, we show that imperfect compliance with diagnostic testing regimes can have marked effects on selection for detection avoidance, and consequently, for disease control. Yet somewhat counterintuitively, we find that an intermediate level of testing can select for the highest level of detection avoidance. Our results, combined with evidence from various pathogens, demonstrate that the evolution of diagnostic testing avoidance should be carefully considered when designing diagnostic testing regimes.","PeriodicalId":12156,"journal":{"name":"Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health","volume":"165 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142200033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}