American Journal of Human Biology最新文献

{"title":"Abstract","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70021","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 S1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143581852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Obesity and Hypertension: A Study Among Young Adults in Delhi NCR, India","authors":"Sumit Mishra,&nbsp;Oishi Choudhury,&nbsp;Vineet Chaudhary,&nbsp;Kallur Nava Saraswathy,&nbsp;Lokesh Singh Shekhawat,&nbsp;Naorem Kiranmala Devi","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70022","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objective</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder increasingly recognized as an adult health concern. It is linked to behavioral disinhibitions that are studied to be associated with mental and physical health adversities, including obesity and hypertension, due to potential common genetic and environmental underpinnings. These connections remain underexplored, particularly in the Indian context. Hence, this study aims to explore the association of ADHD with obesity and hypertension among young adults in Delhi NCR, India.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This cross-sectional study involved 1537 participants aged 18–25 years residing in Delhi NCR, India. Sociodemographic data was collected via pretested and modified interview schedules. ADHD was screened using the ASRS v1.1 tool. Obesity was assessed in terms of general and central obesity using standard anthropometric measurements. Blood pressure was recorded using a digital sphygmomanometer.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Combined-type ADHD correlated with a higher risk of central obesity, with 2.4-fold and 1.9-fold increased odds of high waist circumference (WC) and waist–height ratio (WHtR), respectively. The effect of ADHD on obesity intensified with age. No significant association was found with blood pressure, but trends suggested hypertension may escalate with age among ADHD individuals.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The study emphasizes the importance of incorporating ADHD diagnosis into obesity management programs and highlights the critical role of early, targeted interventions in effectively managing ADHD symptoms. Such an approach may help achieve better health outcomes and reduce the risk of future cardiovascular complications.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143581597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Associated DRD4 7R Allele Predicts Household Economic Status but Not Nutritional Status in Northern Kenyan Rendille Children","authors":"Amanda E. Kunkle,&nbsp;Robert L. Tennyson,&nbsp;Katherine Wander,&nbsp;Bettina Shell-Duncan,&nbsp;Dan T. A. Eisenberg","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70027","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Around 11% of U.S. children are diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). One hypothesis for ADHD's relatively high prevalence is that behaviors associated with ADHD were advantageous in past environments where they were positively selected for. A previous study showed that an allele associated with ADHD—the 7R allele of the gene encoding the D(4) dopamine receptor (<i>DRD4</i>)—had a positive effect on the nutritional status of nomadic adult Ariaal men and a negative effect on settled adult men. We attempted to replicate this finding by analyzing the impact of <i>DRD4</i> 7R on children's nutrition and other household metrics in the Rendille, a population closely related to the Ariaal.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We genotyped 259 Rendille children aged 5–10 years for <i>DRD4</i> 7R and analyzed this against previously collected anthropometric and household data from two Rendille towns. Analyses were pre-registered (https://osf.io/p8yv2/) before the addition of the 7R genotype to the dataset.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p><i>DRD4</i> 7R was not associated with iron nutrition, indicated by transferrin receptor (TfR) concentration, height-for-age (HAZ) or weight-for-height <i>Z</i>-scores (WHZ), or with maternal education status. However, <i>DRD4</i> 7R was positively associated with household economic status (<i>p</i> = 0.047).</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The failure to replicate an association between <i>DRD4</i> 7R and nutritional status might be due to this sample being of children who are not yet substantially provisioning themselves. Given that children's genotypes are correlated with parents' genotypes, it is likely that the effects of the parents' genotypes, rather than the participating children's, explain the association between children's <i>DRD4</i> 7R genotype and household economic success.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143581598","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Current officers and members of standing committees","authors":"","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70020","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 S1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143581837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Correlates of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity Among Prepubertal Girls: A Bioecological Approach","authors":"Leonardo Gomes de Oliveira Luz,&nbsp;Danilo Rodrigues Pereira da Silva,&nbsp;Rafael dos Santos Henrique,&nbsp;André F. Seabra,&nbsp;Manuel João Coelho-e-Silva","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70024","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objective</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This study aimed to analyze the correlates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among prepubertal girls using a broad spectrum of variables, including biological factors, behavioral attributes, and maternal and built environmental factors.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The sample was comprised of 81 girls, aged 7.50–9.49 years, from Portugal. The dependent variable of the study was sufficient MVPA, measured by accelerometry. The independent variables included: decimal age, somatic maturation, body mass index, gross motor coordination evaluated by Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK), participation in physical education classes, maternal education, maternal physical activity level, and built environment.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results revealed that higher gross motor coordination (OR: 1.017; 95% CL = 1.000; 1.035), the “hopping on one leg” KTK item (r: 0.295; 95% CL = 0.082; 0.483), and sufficiently active mothers (OR: 4.264; 95% CL = 1.358; 13.385) are associated with sufficient involvement in MVPA in girls.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This sex-specific, biocultural approach to MVPA may help to promote PA in girls during the prepubertal years through behavioral and familiar determinants.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143571237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Association Between Women's Education and Fertility, Moderating Effect of Unemployment in Context of Polygyny in Pakistan","authors":"Mukhtiar Hussain Ibupoto,&nbsp;Athar Ali Shah,&nbsp;Anqi Sang","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70023","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Introduction</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Increasing fertility has been the main challenge for Pakistan. It has been characterized as the sixth most populous country in the world, having a total population of 208 million, with a growth rate of 2.4% annually, by census report 2017. This study examines the relationship between women's education, employment status, and fertility outcomes in Pakistan.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Method</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Utilizing the Demographic and Health Survey of 2017–2018, the study involves 1796 married women of reproductive age (15–49), belonging to polygynous families. Data are analyzed using multiple analytical techniques, including Chi-Square tests, negative binomial regression, and marginal plots.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The results reveal that higher educational attainment is significantly associated with reduced fertility, with the decline being most pronounced at secondary and higher education levels. However, the interaction between education and employment status demonstrates that education alone is insufficient to lower fertility unless it translates into paid employment. Unemployed women consistently exhibit higher fertility, even among those with higher education, except at the secondary level.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Doing More With Less: Advancing a Contextualized Understanding of Human Biology With Minimally-Invasive Approaches to Capillary Blood Sampling","authors":"Thomas W. McDade","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70019","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;In 2014 I published “Development and validation of assay protocols for use with dried blood spot samples” in the &lt;i&gt;American Journal of Human Biology&lt;/i&gt; (McDade &lt;span&gt;2014&lt;/span&gt;). It appeared as part of the &lt;i&gt;AJHB&lt;/i&gt; “Toolkit: Methods in Human Biology” series, a newly established mechanism for maintaining a virtual methods handbook that tracks new research directions, and provides up-to-date protocols for important, long-standing methods (Ellison and McDade &lt;span&gt;2012&lt;/span&gt;). I served as inaugural series editor, and took advantage of a lull in the Toolkit pipeline to contribute an article on the advantages and disadvantages of dried blood spot (DBS) sampling, and to share detailed “how-to” information that I hoped would encourage more colleagues to develop assays for use with DBS samples. With this commentary, I am grateful for the opportunity to reflect on developments over the past 10 years, but I also aim to highlight the critical role that field-friendly methods like DBS sampling play in advancing a more holistic and contextualized understanding of human biology and health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I am reminded how important this role is each time I teach my introductory undergraduate course on social inequalities and health. Before the first class I ask the students to complete an online survey with the following question: “There can be many causes of problems with a person's health. What do you think are the three most important things that determine someone's health?” I compile the responses into a word cloud to generate discussion on the first day. It probably will not come as a surprise that “genes” and “genetics,” as well as “lifestyle choices” like “diet,” “exercise,” and “smoking” feature prominently in the responses. I point out that the students are privileging individual-level determinants that are either inherited and fixed, or health-related behaviors that imply personal responsibility. But human biology is a contingent biology, and most students are surprised to learn that the broader social and physical worlds we inhabit have powerful effects on our bodies, and that they activate multiple molecular, physiological, behavioral, and neurological pathways to influence our health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There are many historical, political-economic, and cultural reasons why we—particularly in the United States—favor explanatory models of health that focus on individual action and responsibility (Lewontin and Levins &lt;span&gt;2007&lt;/span&gt;). There are epistemological ones as well, drawing on and reinforcing assumptions regarding appropriate study designs and measurement protocols for the production of knowledge about the causes of health and disease. Simply put, methods play a critical role in defining how we study and conceptualize human health. And if we only measure health-related systems in experimental animal models or in clinical settings attached to academic medical complexes, we will have a very narrow and de-contextualized perspective on the human body and ","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajhb.70019","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Adverse Childhood Experiences in Obesity and Hypertension Among Young Adults in Delhi-NCR, India","authors":"Vineet Chaudhary,&nbsp;Gagandeep Kaur Walia,&nbsp;Oishi Choudhury,&nbsp;Naorem Kiranmala Devi,&nbsp;Kallur Nava Saraswathy","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70016","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Despite growing evidence linking adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) with physical health conditions such as obesity and hypertension, research in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including India, remains limited. This study aims to examine the relationship between ACE exposure and the risk of overweight/obesity and hypertension among young adults in Delhi-NCR, India.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The present cross-sectional study involved 1702 young adults of both sexes. Participants were recruited from two universities in Delhi–NCR, India. ACEs were measured using the ACE-International questionnaire (ACE-IQ), while anthropometric (weight, height, waist circumference, and hip circumference) and blood pressure parameters were assessed using standard protocols.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>The prevalence of overweight/obesity increased with higher ACE categories, from 38% among participants with no ACEs to 49.7% among those with ≥ 4 ACEs (<i>p</i> = 0.006). Linear regression showed a significant positive association between ACE scores and BMI (<i>β</i> = 0.182, <i>p</i> = 0.004), waist circumference (WC; <i>β</i> = 0.351, <i>p</i> = 0.022), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR; <i>β</i> = 0.002, <i>p</i> = 0.026). Odds ratio analysis revealed that participants with 3 or more ACEs had increased odds of being overweight/obese compared to unexposed individuals. No consistent associations were found between ACE exposure and blood pressure parameters. Among specific ACE domains, household mental illness was associated with higher odds of both general and central obesity, and bullying showed the highest odds for overweight/obesity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>ACE-exposed young adults may be at a higher risk of overweight/obesity; however, the risk of hypertension may not be immediate. Early intervention may help offset the risk of obesity and related disorders among ACE-exposed youth.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554401","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evolution of the Human Life Cycle, Revisited","authors":"Barry Bogin,&nbsp;B. Holly Smith","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70018","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;We are honored to be among the “Invited Commentaries on Influential Papers” for the 50th Anniversary of the Human Biology Association. The &lt;i&gt;AJHB&lt;/i&gt; Editor, Bill Leonard, wrote that “These contributions will span the broad scope of research encompassed by the field of human population biology, including theoretical advancements … evolutionary/adaptive dimensions of human biology … insights into human health disparities … and methodological innovations …” (Leonard &lt;span&gt;2024&lt;/span&gt;). Bill placed our article (Bogin and Smith &lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;) in the “evolutionary/adaptive” category. Human growth, as studied and taught in the 1970s and 80s, was not a particularly evolutionary field. Existing textbooks were written by physicians, with the medical student in mind or as a practical guide for parents. At the University of Michigan Center for Human Growth and Development (CHGD), where Bill and Holly studied and crossed paths with Barry at lectures, emphasis was placed on human variation, plasticity and health disparities. In paleontology, growth and development was seen through the 19th century lens of “heterochrony” as resurrected by Gould (&lt;span&gt;1977&lt;/span&gt;), with its subset of hypothetical processes by which morphology and size might evolve. Neither of those paths lead toward a model of when and what shaped the human life cycle.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;By the early 1990s, however, decades of work on &lt;i&gt;Pan troglodytes&lt;/i&gt; growth and development (Krogman &lt;span&gt;1930&lt;/span&gt;; Schultz &lt;span&gt;1940&lt;/span&gt;, &lt;span&gt;1960&lt;/span&gt;; Gavan &lt;span&gt;1953&lt;/span&gt;; Nissen and Riesen &lt;span&gt;1964&lt;/span&gt;) and ethology (see Goodall &lt;span&gt;1986&lt;/span&gt;) had described ways in which chimpanzees resembled humans (e.g., tool use, group hunting, sharing meat, strong mother-infant bonds, male–male affiliations) and the ways they did not (e.g., extremely prolonged nursing, dental and skeletal maturation almost twice as fast as humans, lack of an adolescent growth spurt). In addition, the anthropology of human societies had been enriched by a new human ecology that had an eye to growth, work, demography, and energy production and consumption by age, sex, and gender (Draper &lt;span&gt;1976&lt;/span&gt;; Howell &lt;span&gt;1979&lt;/span&gt;; Lee &lt;span&gt;1979&lt;/span&gt;; Leonard &lt;span&gt;1994&lt;/span&gt;; Hill and Hurtado &lt;span&gt;1996&lt;/span&gt;). An evolutionary paradigm coming from comparative biology and the relatively new discipline of ‘life history,’ which studied how organisms evolved to allocate time and energy to growth, maintenance and reproduction, was bringing breadth and rigor into interpretations of life cycle and behavior (Stearns &lt;span&gt;1992&lt;/span&gt;; Charnov &lt;span&gt;1993&lt;/span&gt;).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our pre-1996 independent research formed the basis of our working together. Barry started toward research in biological development and evolution in 1969 via a job in the lab of Richard L. Miller, a developmental biologist who was the first to discover fertilization by sperm chemotaxis in an animal (Miller &lt;span&gt;1966&lt;/span&gt;). It was Barry's junior year at","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajhb.70018","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143554592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regulatory T-Cells During Pregnancy Relate to Women's Own Childhood History of Microbial Exposure","authors":"Molly M. Fox,&nbsp;Adiba Hassan,&nbsp;Kyle S. Wiley,&nbsp;Dayoon Kwon,&nbsp;Delaney A. Knorr","doi":"10.1002/ajhb.70013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.70013","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Objectives</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Previous studies found that children with siblings, farm residence, and other proxies of greater microbial contacts had lower rates of hyper-responsive immune disorders. Yet, scientific debate persists regarding whether the human immune system is educated in early life primarily as a function of pathogenic or benign microbial exposures, or both. Furthermore, pregnancy relies on women's intrinsic immunosuppressive function, yet it remained unknown how immunoregulation in pregnant women relates to early-life microbial exposures. Here, we conduct a preliminary examination of whether childhood microbial exposures prime women's pregnancy-related immunoregulatory capacity.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Methods</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We administered retrospective questionnaires to estimate 55 pregnant women's early-life exposure to pathogenic (e.g., illness) and benign (e.g., pets; rural residence) microbes. Tolerogenic regulatory T-cells (Tregs) and Treg subtypes were measured by flow cytometry from peripheral blood.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Results</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>Results show that proxies for both pathogenic and benign exposures were positively associated with Treg concentrations.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 \u0000 <section>\u0000 \u0000 <h3> Conclusions</h3>\u0000 \u0000 <p>These findings offer insights that may help elucidate the relative contributions of early-life pathogenic (“hygiene hypothesis”) and benign (“old friends hypothesis”) microbial exposures toward the expansion of the Treg compartment. Human evolutionary history is characterized by changing microbial exposures as human residency patterns, living environments, and subsistence strategies changed. In this context, our findings suggest the possibility of less gestational pathology in human evolutionary past conditions typified by richer diversity of microbial exposure.</p>\u0000 </section>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":50809,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of Human Biology","volume":"37 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143521998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}