A biological approach to adult sex differences in skeletal indicators of childhood stress

Abstract

Objectives: In previous work examining the etiology of cribra orbitalia (CO) and porotic hyperostosis (PH) in a contemporary juvenile mortality sample, we noted that males had higher odds of having CO lesions than females. Here, we examine potential reasons for this pattern in greater detail. Four non-mutually exclusive mechanisms could explain the observed sex differences: (1) sex-biased mortality; (2) sexual dimorphism in immune responses; (3) sexual dimorphism in bone turnover; or (4) sexual dimorphism in marrow conversion. Subjects and methods:The sample consists of postmortem computed tomography scans and autopsy reports, field reports, and limited medical records of 488 individuals from New Mexico (203 females; 285 males) aged between 0.5 and 15 years. We used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, predicted probabilities, and odds ratios to test each mechanism.Results: Males do not have lower survival probabilities than females, and we find no indications of sex differences in immune response. Overall, males have a higher probability of having CO or PH lesions than females. Conclusions:All results indicate that lesion formation in juveniles is influenced by some combination of sex differences in the pace of red-yellow conversion of the bone marrow and bone turnover. The preponderance of males with CO and PH likely speaks to the potential for heightened osteoblastic activity in males. We find no support for the hypotheses that sex biases in mortality or immune responses impacted lesion frequency in this sample. Sex differences in biological processes experienced by children may affect lesion formation and lesion expression in later life.

Frequency and co‐occurrence of porous skeletal lesions in identified non‐adults from Portugal (19th to 20th centuries) and its association with respiratory infections as cause of death

“…Patterns of morbidity and mortality associated with PSL, particularly in non‐adults, may be absent from sex estimate data in archaeological contexts (McFadden & Oxenham, 2020), making it essential to analyze identified skeletal samples (e.g., O'Donnell et al, 2021). In this research, the appearance of porous lesions occurred independently of the biological sex, contrary to what was reported by O'Donnell et al (2021).…”

“…It is intended to test the following predictions: Non‐adult males are more affected by PSL than females because they have increased osteoblastic activity, whereas non‐adult females maintain yellow marrow for longer (O'Donnell et al, 2021). Younger individuals present higher frequencies of PSL because anemia developed after childhood is not expected to affect bone as severely as in younger ages (Stuart‐Macadam, 1985).…”

“…1. Non-adult males are more affected by PSL than females because they have increased osteoblastic activity, whereas non-adult females maintain yellow marrow for longer (O'Donnell et al, 2021).…”

A multifaceted exploration of ontogenetic variation in vertebral neural canal size across contemporary populations

“…The documentation associated with the individuals' health and death records indicated that the individuals likely had to be sick for several weeks at least to develop detectable CO or PH. However, no mortality bias according to sex or age was established for the prevalence of either lesion (O'Donnell et al, 2022). O'Donnell and colleagues bring invaluable information on the prevalence and etiology of CO and PH, which was previously lacking to validate the use of these lesions as non‐specific skeletal markers of childhood stress or disease in both contemporary and past populations.…”

“…The documentation associated with the individuals' health and death records indicated that the individuals likely had to be sick for several weeks at least to develop detectable CO or PH. However, no mortality bias according to sex or age was established for the prevalence of either lesion (O'Donnell et al, 2022).…”