Galbarczyk Andrzej, Klimek Magdalena, Blukacz Mateusz, Nenko Ilona, Jabłońska Magdalena, Jasienska Grazyna
Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
Institute of Psychology, University of Silesia in Katowice, Katowice, Poland.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2021 Jul;175(3):656-664. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.24295. Epub 2021 Apr 30.
Reproduction is costly, but sons and daughters differently influence maternal physiology, also in older age. In particular, having sons may negatively influence maternal health and may be associated with a shorter life span of mothers. Sons may also contribute to increased inflammaging, a chronic sub-clinical systemic inflammatory state characterized by elevated levels of serum inflammatory mediators. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of the total number of children, and the number of daughters and sons separately on concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), and proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α).
The participants were 378 women aged 45-92 who had 3.9 (SD 2.12, median = 4, range = 0-13) children, including 2.1 (SD 1.46, median = 2, range = 0-8) sons and 1.8 (SD 1.44, median = 2, range = 0-7) daughters on average.
We found a positive relationship between the overall number of children and IL-6 levels. CRP and IL-6 concentrations were positively associated with the number of sons but not with the number of daughters. Each son increased maternal CRP level by 11%, and IL-6 level by 6%. Neither the total number of children nor the number of daughters or sons were related to the TNF-α concentration.
Aging-associated inflammation in post-reproductive mothers with a higher number of sons supports the hypothesis of trade-offs between reproduction and health. Furthermore, these results provide new evidence contributing to the idea that having sons may have more detrimental effects on the maternal organism than having daughters.
生殖成本高昂，而且无论年龄大小，儿子和女儿对母亲生理机能的影响都有所不同。特别是，生育儿子可能会对母亲的健康产生负面影响，并且可能与母亲较短的寿命有关。儿子还可能导致炎症衰老加剧，炎症衰老是一种慢性亚临床全身性炎症状态，其特征是血清炎症介质水平升高。本研究的目的是分别考察子女总数、女儿数量和儿子数量对C反应蛋白（CRP）以及白细胞介素6（IL-6）和肿瘤坏死因子-α（TNF-α）等促炎细胞因子浓度的影响。
研究对象为378名年龄在45至92岁之间的女性，她们平均育有3.9个（标准差2.12，中位数 = 4，范围 = 0至13）子女，其中儿子平均有2.1个（标准差1.46，中位数 = 2，范围 = 0至8），女儿平均有1.8个（标准差1.44，中位数 = 2，范围 = 0至7）。
我们发现子女总数与IL-6水平之间存在正相关关系。CRP和IL-6浓度与儿子数量呈正相关，与女儿数量无关。每生育一个儿子，母亲的CRP水平升高11%，IL-6水平升高6%。子女总数、女儿数量或儿子数量均与TNF-α浓度无关。
在生育较多儿子的绝经后母亲中，与衰老相关的炎症支持了生殖与健康之间存在权衡的假说。此外，这些结果为儿子对母亲机体的危害可能比女儿更大这一观点提供了新的证据。
