Trends in Ecology & Evolution
ReviewIs Female Health Cyclical? Evolutionary Perspectives on Menstruation
Section snippets
The Evolutionary Origin of Cyclic Decidualization
Why do some female mammals menstruate at all? Growing evidence from human data suggests that the menstrual cycle is underpinned by inflammatory patterns, which change in a way that enables maternal control over the selection of viable embryos 1, 2. If immunity does indeed change over the menstrual cycle, what are the implications for the fitness of individuals and for population processes? In this review, we show that understanding how the menstrual cycle regulates the immune system has
The Evidence for Cyclical Health
This section reviews the evidence for cyclical female health, focusing on the menstrual modulation of: (i) inflammatory patterns, and (ii) disease susceptibility, development, and severity with regards to infections and chronic diseases. Note that data on the menstrual regulation of systemic immunity and nonreproductive health are scant and limited to humans (reviewed in 16, 17). While studies show that women’s health is cyclical, methodological issues and the lack of recent meta-analyses
Cyclical Female Health in Ecological and Evolutionary Contexts
Reproduction–immunity trade-offs in menstruating females are subject to both physiological and functional conflicts [18]. In addition to the physiological trade-offs imposed by seasonality in resource availability [56], in the second phase of the cycle, the immune system must cope with the dual function of enabling the implantation of a healthy embryo, while maintaining functionality in both selecting against compromised embryos [2] and defending against pathogens [18]. What are the ecological
Concluding Remarks
Accumulating evidence suggests that, at least in humans, the female immune response is modulated by the hormones governing the menstrual cycle in a way that enables the implantation of a healthy embryo, even in the absence of fertilization. Although nonconceptive cycles are infrequent in non-human menstruating species, the occurrence of menstruation is on the rise in many contemporary human populations. Given the modulation of inflammatory patterns imposed by the menstrual cycle on the body, we
Glossary
- Adaptive immune response
- the second line of defence against pathogens (microorganisms harmful to the body). The adaptive immune response is highly specific, involves immunological memory, and can provide long-lasting protection.
- Biomarkers of systemic inflammation
- measurable indicators that correlate with levels of inflammation. Common biomarkers include acute phase-proteins such as CRP and fibrinogen.
- Blastocyste
- the name given to the embryo between the 5th and 7th day after fertilization.
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Cited by (39)
Reproductive risk factors across the female lifecourse and later metabolic health
2024, Cell MetabolismBeyond sex and gender differences: The case for women's health research
2023, Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine: Sex and Gender-Specific Biology in the Postgenomic EraOut of balance: the role of evolutionary mismatches in the sex disparity in autoimmune disease
2021, Medical HypothesesCitation Excerpt :Finally, despite an abundance of studies suggesting that hormonal changes over the life span affect autoimmune disease risk in women, no such research has been conducted in men, despite a documented age-related drop in the production of testosterone and other androgens during andropause, whilst oestrogen levels remain similar [149,150]. Of all immunology articles, less than 10% considers the sex of the participants in their analysis [151] and this bias persists in animal model studies [152]. Although compared to other areas of biomedicine autoimmune disease research has already acknowledged that taking sex and parity into consideration is key to understanding the female preponderance in autoimmunity incidence, research on the proximate mechanisms by which reproductive hormones influence tolerance mechanisms and autoimmune disease symptoms would benefit from an evolutionary medicine framework.
Predictors of helminth parasite infection in female chacma baboons (Papio ursinus)
2021, International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and WildlifeCitation Excerpt :For example, some studies of nonhuman primates have found that females harbor more parasites during their monthly ovulatory cycles compared to other phases of reproduction (e.g., yellow baboon, Papio cynocephalus: Hausfater and Watson 1976; Meade 1984). Likewise, research on humans suggests a shifting reproduction-immunity tradeoff: infection susceptibility is heightened during ovulatory cycling, particularly when progesterone concentrations are elevated in the host (Alvergne and Tabor 2018). Pregnancy is another energetically costly component of a female's life because the mother is providing resources for herself and her fetus (Lloyd 1983).
Menstruation: science and society
2020, American Journal of Obstetrics and GynecologyCitation Excerpt :The bleeding in dogs is caused by extravasation during the growth of the uterine lining, which can break through the epithelium leading to a vaginal efflux. The fact that menstruation plays a major role in the life of a woman and that it is rare among animals has inspired many scientists, anthropologists, and medical researchers to speculate about its biological role.46–52 This is not the place to review all the ideas that have been proposed to explain the evolution of menstruation but note that the most honest and shortest answer to this question is “we do not know.”53