Early developmental exposures shape trade-offs between acquired and innate immunity in humans

Georgiev, Alexander V.; Kuzawa, Christopher W.; McDade, Thomas W.

doi:10.1093/emph/eow022

Cited by 19 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…A detailed mediation analysis suggests that associations between height and antibody titers are indirect. This is because resource availability during ontogeny mediates both body growth and the development of the immune system (Georgiev et al, ; Sekiyama et al, ). Overall, the present study highlights the importance of resource availability and an optimal developmental niche (Stotz, ) to ensuring that young people receive the best possible start in life.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The critical window for developmental plasticity of body growth and immunity occurs when mothers buffer infants against environmental threats and when the infant's growth is most sensitive to maternal nutrition (Georgiev, Kuzawa, & McDade, ; McDade, ; Said‐Mohamed et al, ). In wealthier Western societies, approximately 80% of between‐population variation in height is determined by genetic factors, whereas environmental factors such as pathogens, infections, and the level of income play a less important role in heritability (McEvoy & Visscher, ; Silventoinen et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

Krams

Luoto

Rubika

et al. 2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Male height and health affect a diverse range of social and economic outcomes such as competition for resources and mates. Life history theory predicts that limited availability of bioenergetic resources curbs the development of central life history functions such as somatic growth, immunity, and investment in offspring. Although genetic factors are important determinants of height, other factors such as income level may affect the incidence of infections during ontogeny, thus having indirect effects on somatic growth. We tested whether growing up in families with a higher income positively affects height and immune function.Materials and Methods: Seventy-three young Latvian men from various socioeconomic backgrounds were given a hepatitis B vaccine. Blood samples were subsequently collected to measure the antibodies produced in response to the vaccination. Tweedie compound Poisson generalized linear models were used to examine relationships between height, family income, and antibody titers.Results: Both height and family income positively correlated with the strength of men's immune response. However, when testing for the simultaneous effects of height and income on antibody titers, the statistical models showed that height affected antibody levels indirectly because income level mediated variance in height. Discussion:The results of this study show that the relationships between height and immune function in young men are more complex than previously thought. Associations between taller stature of men and the robustness of their immune response are indirect because resource availability affects both somatic growth and the development of the immune system. K E Y W O R D Simmunity, life history theory, nutrition, socioeconomic status, stature

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

Krams

Luoto

Rubika

et al. 2018

American J Phys Anthropol

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“…At the same time, different life history strategies can be expected to entail different patterns of investment in immune defenses. For example, researchers have begun to examine the possibility that faster life history strategies may predict increased investment in innate immunity (including inflammation) at the expense of acquired immunity (Georgiev et al 2016).…”

Section: The Adaptive Calibration Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental Adaptation to Stress: An Evolutionary Perspective

Ellis

Giudice

2019

Annu. Rev. Psychol.

284

246

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The assumption that early stress leads to dysregulation and impairment is widespread in developmental science and informs prevailing models (e.g., toxic stress). An alternative evolutionary-developmental approach, which complements the standard emphasis on dysregulation, proposes that early stress may prompt the development of costly but adaptive strategies that promote survival and reproduction under adverse conditions. In this review, we survey this growing theoretical and empirical literature, highlighting recent developments and outstanding questions. We review concepts of adaptive plasticity and conditional adaptation, introduce the life history framework and the adaptive calibration model, and consider how physiological stress response systems and related neuroendocrine processes may function as plasticity mechanisms. We then address the evolution of individual differences in susceptibility to the environment, which engenders systematic person-environment interactions in the effects of stress on development. Finally, we discuss stress-mediated regulation of pubertal development as a case study of how an evolutionary-developmental approach can foster theoretical integration. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology Volume 70 is January 4, 2019. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

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“…The findings also suggest that trait development might be at least moderately sex-specific. Georgiev and colleagues, for instance, detected that women appeared immunologically more sensitive to pathogen exposure early in life than men 6 . Exposure to early life psychosocial stress can perturb the development of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) coupling, resulting in early sexual maturation and early reproduction in females 15 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s socioeconomic position in ontogeny is associated with improved immune function and lower stress, but not with height

Rubika

Luoto

Krama

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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immune function, height and resource accumulation comprise important life history traits in humans. Resource availability models arising from life history theory suggest that socioeconomic conditions influence immune function, growth and health status. In this study, we tested whether there are associations between family income during ontogeny, adult height, cortisol level and immune response in women. A hepatitis B vaccine was administered to 66 young Latvian women from different socioeconomic backgrounds, and blood samples were then collected to measure the level of antibodies that the women produced in response to the vaccination. cortisol levels were measured from plasma samples pre-and post-vaccination. Women from wealthier families had lower cortisol levels, and women from the highest family income group had the highest levels of antibody titers against hepatitis B vaccine. No significant relationships were observed between cortisol level and immune function, nor between family income and height. the results show that income level during ontogeny is associated with the strength of immune response and with psychoneuroendocrine pathways underlying stress perception in early adulthood. The findings indicate that the quality of the developmental niche is associated with the condition-dependent expression of immune function and stress response. Life history theory focuses on how organisms allocate finite resources to maximize their evolutionary fitness, with the ultimate goal of passing their genes to the next generation. Life history theory is predicated on the idea that the principal functions of organismal growth, survival and reproduction require sufficient resources, parceled out from the finite energy that each organism can extract from its environment 1,2. Scarcity of bioenergetic resources restrains the development of central life history functions such as somatic growth, immune function, reproduction and socioeconomic development 3-10. It has been shown that growing up in poverty causes developmental

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Early developmental exposures shape trade-offs between acquired and innate immunity in humans

Cited by 19 publications

References 92 publications

A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

A head start for life history development? Family income mediates associations between height and immune response in men

Developmental Adaptation to Stress: An Evolutionary Perspective

Women’s socioeconomic position in ontogeny is associated with improved immune function and lower stress, but not with height

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