Apari Péter, Rózsa Lajos
Department of Animal Taxonomy and Ecology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Pázmány Str. 1, H-1117, Hungary.
Med Hypotheses. 2009 Jan;72(1):52-4. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.08.021. Epub 2008 Oct 17.
There is a two-way traffic of immune cells through the placenta; and fetal immune cells are often present in the maternal body even long after giving birth. We present an adaptationist theory to interpret fetal-->maternal microchimerism and the diverse set of concomitant medical phenomena. We handle fetal, maternal, and paternal adaptive interests separately and in interaction with one another. Fetuses may benefit from immunological information gathered by migrant cells in the maternal body, and also from improved maternal defence. However, they may be jeopardized by a selfish maternal usage of fetal-->maternal microchimerism - i.e., some mothers get pregnant only to improve their immune system and then to abort. The use of microchimeric cells by the maternal immune system may contribute to the adaptive benefits of female choosiness and polyandry. While fathers may enjoy an indirect benefit from enhanced fetal and maternal health, they also face the risk of wasting sexual efforts due to selfish pregnancies of cheating females. Paternal alleles acting via clones of microchimeric cells in the maternal body could launch an immunological attack against the non-kin sperm in the female genitalia, or against the non-kin fetus in the womb. Furthermore, an intraspecific version of Zahavi's Mafia Hypothesis could explain a potential interaction between the abortion of fetuses and a subsequent rise of an autoimmune disease. We suggest that males may be capable to provoke microchimerism-induced autoimmune-like diseases in the mother in revenge of selfish pregnancies. This hypothetic paternal threat could increase the maternal costs associated to selfish pregnancies. From a medical point of view, we propose new interpretations for autoimmune-like diseases, infertility, miscarriage, and also for the prevailing connections among them. Specifically, we argue that miscarriages may cause autoimmune diseases, a reversed causality as compared to the currently accepted one.
免疫细胞通过胎盘进行双向流通；即使在分娩后很长时间，胎儿免疫细胞也常常存在于母体中。我们提出一种适应性理论来解释胎儿向母体的微嵌合体现象以及一系列与之相关的医学现象。我们分别处理胎儿、母体和父体的适应性利益，并考虑它们之间的相互作用。胎儿可能受益于母体中迁移细胞收集的免疫信息，也受益于母体防御能力的提升。然而，胎儿可能会受到母体对胎儿向母体微嵌合体的自私利用的威胁——也就是说，有些母亲怀孕只是为了改善自身免疫系统，然后就选择流产。母体免疫系统对微嵌合细胞的利用可能有助于女性择偶和一妻多夫制的适应性益处。虽然父亲可能会从胎儿和母体健康的增强中间接受益，但他们也面临着因不忠女性的自私怀孕而浪费性努力的风险。通过母体中微嵌合细胞克隆起作用的父体等位基因可能会对女性生殖器中的非亲缘精子或子宫中的非亲缘胎儿发动免疫攻击。此外，扎哈维的黑手党假说的种内版本可以解释胎儿流产与随后自身免疫性疾病增加之间的潜在相互作用。我们认为，男性可能有能力为报复自私怀孕而在母亲体内引发微嵌合体诱导的自身免疫样疾病。这种假设的父体威胁可能会增加与自私怀孕相关的母体成本。从医学角度来看，我们对自身免疫样疾病、不孕症、流产以及它们之间普遍存在的联系提出了新的解释。具体而言，我们认为流产可能会导致自身免疫性疾病，这与目前公认的因果关系相反。
