The cost of reproduction in women: Reproductive effort and oxidative stress in premenopausal and postmenopausal American women

Ziomkiewicz, Anna; Frumkin, Amara; Zhang, Yawei; Sancilio, Amelia; Bribiescas, Richard G.

doi:10.1002/ajhb.23069

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Polish women with four or more pregnancies had significantly elevated levels of a biomarker of DNA oxidative damage and of an antioxidative defence enzyme [54]. However, in women from the USA, no differences in oxidative damage were observed in relation to parity [55].…”

Section: Does Reproduction Have a Long-term Negative Impact? The Mechanisms Behind Reproductive Costs And Ageingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costs of reproduction and ageing in the human female

Jasieńska

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Evolutionary theories of ageing point to reproduction as a significant factor to consider when asking why ageing occurs and why there is inter-individual variation in its progression. Reproduction in human females is costly, in terms of energy, nutrients and metabolic adjustments. Thus, it is expected that women who experienced high reproductive effort resulting from multiple reproductive events will age faster. However, the evidence for long-term negative effects of reproduction is not conclusive. The lack of understanding of whether there are trade-offs between reproduction and ageing in women is partly due to methodological challenges. The costs of reproduction are often calculated based only on parity, while other elements contributing to these costs (e.g. breastfeeding, timing of reproduction) are neglected, which may significantly underestimate the total costs and obscure the all-important inter-individual variation in such costs. Costs must be evaluated in relation to individual characteristics, including developmental conditions, nutritional status and social support that a mother receives during reproduction. Furthermore, ageing and health must be assessed based on comprehensive markers rather than arbitrarily assembled variables. Finally, longitudinal rather than cross-sectional studies and new statistical approaches are needed to reveal how much of a decline in health and progressing ageing can actually be attributed to past reproductive processes. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolution of the primate ageing process'.

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Section: Does Reproduction Have a Long-term Negative Impact? The Mechanisms Behind Reproductive Costs And Ageingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costs of reproduction and ageing in the human female

Jasieńska

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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“…Across vertebrates, a number of studies also broadly support a trade-off between high fertility and reduced longevity [28,29]. Among female primates, including humans, results are inconsistent; some suggest that high fertility may be associated with negative health outcomes only in resource poor environments (reviewed in [27,30,31–34]). All primates share unusually high parental investment and long lifespans [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faecal parasites increase with age but not reproductive effort in wild female chimpanzees

Phillips-Garcia

Goldberg

Muller

et al. 2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Energy investment in reproduction is predicted to trade off against other necessary physiological functions like immunity, but it is unclear to what extent this impacts fitness in long-lived species. Among mammals, female primates, and especially apes, exhibit extensive periods of investment in each offspring. During this time, energy diverted to gestation and lactation is hypothesized to incur short and long-term deficits in maternal immunity and lead to accelerated ageing. We examined the relationship between reproduction and immunity, as measured by faecal parasite counts, in wild female chimpanzees ( Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii ) of Kibale National Park, Uganda. While we observed higher parasite shedding (counts of eggs, cysts and larvae) in pregnant chimpanzees relative to cycling females, parasites rapidly decreased during early lactation, the most energetically taxing phase of the reproductive cycle. Additionally, while our results indicate that parasite shedding increases with age, females with higher fertility for their age had lower faecal parasite counts. Such findings support the hypothesis that the relatively conservative rate of female reproduction in chimpanzees may be protective against the negative effects of reproductive effort on health. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolution of the primate ageing process’.

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“…For example, previous analyses of OS levels and reproductive investment in rural Polish women have shown significant associations between OS biomarkers and a composite measure of reproductive investment (Ziomkiewicz et al, 2016). However, follow-up research that broadened the ecological context of these studies with the investigation of urban American participants demonstrated no significant association between biomarkers of OS and reproductive investment for postmenopausal women (Ziomkiewicz et al, 2017). This revealed that ecological and lifestyle conditions that contribute to women's energetic status may contribute to variation in vulnerability to OS in association with reproductive effort (Jasienska, 2009).…”

Section: Oxidative Stress and Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Though the production of ROS is expected to increase as a result of the physiological changes associated with investment in reproduction, there is limited evidence about whether this alteration in the generation of ROS translates into an accumulated or long-lasting increase in OS levels, representing a potential lifetime cost of reproduction (Ziomkiewicz et al, 2016;Ziomkiewicz, Frumkin, Zhang, Sancilio, & Bribiescas, 2017). Some studies have suggested both that biomarkers of OS return to normal in the postpartum period, while others implied that these indicators remain elevated long after gestation is complete (Mutlu, Bas, Aksoy, & Taskin, 2012;Toescu et al, 2002).…”

Section: Oxidative Stress and Reproductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Accelerated senescence as a cost of reproduction: Testing associations between oxidative stress and reproductive effort in rural and urban women

Sancilio

Jasieńska

Panter‐Brick

et al. 2020

American J Hum Biol

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Objectives: Oxidative stress is hypothesized to contribute to age-related somatic deterioration. Both reproductive and ecological context may necessitate tradeoffs that influence this outcome. We examined whether measures of lifetime reproductive effort were related to levels of oxidative stress biomarkers in peri-and post-menopausal women and whether associations were moderated by rural or urban residence.Methods: We surveyed 263 healthy women (age 62.1 ± 10.0 SD) from rural (N = 161) and urban Poland (N = 102), collecting sociodemographic data and urine samples to analyze biomarkers of oxidative stress (8-oxo-2 0deoxyguanosine, 8-OHdG) and antioxidative defense (copper-zinc superoxide dismutase, Cu-Zn SOD). Linear regression models, adjusted for residence, were used to test for associations between reproductive effort and 8-OHdG and Cu-Zn SOD.Results: Univariate models demonstrated significant associations between gravidity and the biomarkers of oxidative stress (8-OHdG: R 2 = 0.042,

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The cost of reproduction in women: Reproductive effort and oxidative stress in premenopausal and postmenopausal American women

Cited by 8 publications

References 61 publications

Costs of reproduction and ageing in the human female

Costs of reproduction and ageing in the human female

Faecal parasites increase with age but not reproductive effort in wild female chimpanzees

Accelerated senescence as a cost of reproduction: Testing associations between oxidative stress and reproductive effort in rural and urban women

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