Nipissing University, North Bay, Canada.
Boston University, Boston, USA.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 6;11(1):19862. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99334-5.
Individual variation in the age of pubertal onset is linked to physical and mental health, yet the factors underlying this variation are poorly understood. Life history theory predicts that individuals at higher risk of mortality due to extrinsic causes such as infectious disease should sexually mature and reproduce earlier, whereas those at lower risk can delay puberty and continue to invest resources in somatic growth. We examined relationships between a genetic predictor of infectious disease resistance, heterozygosity of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), referred to as the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) gene in humans, and self-reported pubertal timing. In a combined sample of men from Canada (n = 137) and the United States (n = 43), MHC heterozygosity predicted later self-reported pubertal development. These findings suggest a genetic trade-off between immunocompetence and sexual maturation in human males.
个体青春期起始年龄的变化与身心健康有关，但导致这种变化的因素还知之甚少。生命史理论预测，由于传染病等外在原因而面临更高死亡率风险的个体应该更早地性成熟和繁殖，而那些面临较低风险的个体可以延迟青春期并继续将资源投入到身体生长中。我们研究了一种传染病抵抗力的遗传预测因子，即人类主要组织相容性复合体（MHC）的杂合性，在人类中称为人类白细胞抗原（HLA）基因，与自我报告的青春期时间之间的关系。在来自加拿大（n=137）和美国（n=43）的男性的综合样本中，MHC 杂合性预测了自我报告的青春期发育较晚。这些发现表明，人类男性的免疫能力和性成熟之间存在遗传权衡。
