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Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population.

ABSTRACT: Background:In an energy-limited environment, caloric investments in one characteristic should trade-off with investments in other characteristics. In high pathogen ecologies, biasing energy allocation towards immune function over growth would be predicted, given strong selective pressures against early-life mortality. Methodology:In the present study, we use flow cytometry to examine trade-offs between adaptive immune function (T cell subsets, B cells), innate immune function (natural killer cells), adaptive to innate ratio and height-for-age z scores (HAZ) among young children (N?=?344; aged 2?months-8?years) in the Bolivian Amazon, using maternal BMI and child weight-for-height z scores (WHZ) as proxies for energetic status. Results:Markers of adaptive immune function negatively associate with child HAZ, a pattern most significant in preadolescents (3+ years). In children under three, maternal BMI appears to buffer immune and HAZ associations, while child energetic status (WHZ) moderates relationships in an unexpected direction: HAZ and immune associations are greater in preadolescents with higher WHZ. Children with low WHZ maintain similar levels of adaptive immune function, but are shorter compared to high WHZ peers. Conclusions:Reduced investment in growth in favor of immunity may be necessary for survival in high pathogen contexts, even under energetic constraints. Further, genetic and environmental factors are important considerations for understanding variation in height within this population. These findings prompt consideration of whether there may be a threshold of investment into adaptive immunity required for survival in high pathogen environments, and thus question the universal relevance of height as a marker of health. Lay Summary:Adaptive immune function is negatively associated with child height in this high pathogen environment. Further, low weight-for-height children are shorter but maintain similar immune levels. Findings question the relevance of height as a universal health marker, given that costs and benefits of height versus immunity may be calibrated to local ecology.

SUBMITTER: Garcia AR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7502263 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population.

Garcia Angela R AR Blackwell Aaron D AD Trumble Benjamin C BC Stieglitz Jonathan J Kaplan Hillard H Gurven Michael D MD

Evolution, medicine, and public health 20200902 1

<h4>Background</h4>In an energy-limited environment, caloric investments in one characteristic should trade-off with investments in other characteristics. In high pathogen ecologies, biasing energy allocation towards immune function over growth would be predicted, given strong selective pressures against early-life mortality.<h4>Methodology</h4>In the present study, we use flow cytometry to examine trade-offs between adaptive immune function (T cell subsets, B cells), innate immune function (nat ...[more]

PMID: 32983534

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Project description:Natural populations of pathogens are frequently composed of numerous interacting strains. Understanding what maintains this diversity remains a key focus of research in disease ecology. In addition, within-host pathogen dynamics can have a strong impact on both infection outcome and the evolution of pathogen virulence, and thus, understanding the impact of pathogen diversity is important for disease management. We compared eight genetically distinguishable variants from Spodoptera exempta nucleopolyhedrovirus (SpexNPV) isolated from the African armyworm, Spodoptera exempta. NPVs are obligate killers, and the vast majority of transmission stages are not released until after the host has died. The NPV variants differed significantly in their virulence and could be clustered into two groups based on their dose-response curves. They also differed in their speed of kill and productivity (transmission potential) for S. exempta. The mixed-genotype wild-type (WT) SpexNPV, from which each variant was isolated, was significantly more virulent than any individual variant and its mean mortality rate was within the fastest group of individual variants. However, the WT virus produced fewer new infectious stages than any single variant, which might reflect competition among the variants. A survival analysis, combining the mortality and speed of kill data, confirmed the superiority of the genetically mixed WT virus over any single variant. Spodoptera exempta larvae infected with WT SpexNPV were predicted to die 2·7 and 1·9 times faster than insects infected with isolates from either of the two clusters of genotypes. Theory suggests that there are likely to be trade-offs between pathogen fitness traits. Across all larvae, there was a negative linear relationship between virus yield and speed of kill, such that more rapid host death carried the cost of producing fewer transmission stages. We also found a near-significant relationship for the same trend at the intervariant level. However, there was no evidence for a significant relationship between the induced level of mortality and transmission potential (virus yield) or speed of kill.

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Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population.

Publications

Evidence for height and immune function trade-offs among preadolescents in a high pathogen population.

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