Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T00:57:25.703Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Body height, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, fluctuating asymmetry and second to fourth digit ratio in subjects with latent toxoplasmosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2005

J. FLEGR ,
M. HRŬSKOVÁ ,
Z. HODNÝ ,
M. NOVOTNÁ  and
J. HANUšOVÁ
J. FLEGR
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
M. HRŬSKOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Z. HODNÝ
Affiliation:
Department of Cellular Ultrastructure and Molecular Biology, Institute of Experimental Medicine, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic
M. NOVOTNÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
J. HANUšOVÁ
Affiliation:
Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Between 20% and 60% of the population of most countries are infected with the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Subjects with clinically asymptomatic life-long latent toxoplasmosis differ from those who are Toxoplasma free in several behavioural parameters. Case-control studies cannot decide whether these differences already existed before infection or whether they were induced by the presence of Toxoplasma in the brain of infected hosts. Here we searched for such morphological differences between Toxoplasma-infected and Toxoplasma-free subjects that could be induced by the parasite (body weight, body height, body mass index, waist-hip ratio), or could rather correlate with their natural resistance to parasitic infection (fluctuating asymmetry, 2D[ratio ]4D ratio). We found Toxoplasma-infected men to be taller and Toxoplasma-infected men and women to have lower 2D[ratio ]4D ratios previously reported to be associated with higher pre-natal testosterone levels. The 2D[ratio ]4D ratio negatively correlated with the level of specific anti-Toxoplasma antibodies in Toxoplasma-free subjects. These results suggest that some of the observed differences between infected and non-infected subjects may have existed before infection and could be caused by the lower natural resistance to Toxoplasma infection in subjects with higher pre-natal testosterone levels.

Keywords

human(2D[ratio ]4D)Toxoplasmatestosteroneimmunityresistanceimmunocompetence handicap hypothesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 130 , Issue 6 , June 2005 , pp. 621 - 628
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

BARNARD, C. J., BEHNKE, J. M. & SEWELL, J. ( 1994). Social behaviour and susceptibility to infection in house mice (Mus musculus): Effects of group size, aggressive behaviour and status-related hormonal responses prior to infection on resistance to Babesia microti. Parasitology 108, 487–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BROWN, W. M., HINES, M., FANE, B. A. & BREEDLOVE, S. M. ( 2004). Masculinized finger length patterns in human males and females with congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Hormones and Behavior 42, 380–386.Google Scholar
BUCHANAN, K. L., EVANS, M. R. & GOLDSMITH, A. R. ( 2003). Testosterone, dominance signalling and immunosuppression in the house sparrow, Passer domesticus. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 55, 50–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DERMITZAKIS, E. T., REYMOND, A., SCAMUFFA, N., UCLA, C., KIRKNESS, E., ROSSIER, C. & ANTONARAKIS, S. E. ( 2003). Evolutionary discrimination of mammalian conserved non-genic sequences (CNGs). Science 302, 1033–1035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEGR, J., HAVLICEK, J., KODYM, P., MALY, M. & SMAHEL, Z. ( 2002). Increased risk of traffic accidents in subjects with latent toxoplasmosis: a retrospective case-control study. BMC Infectious Diseases 2, 11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEGR, J., KODYM, P. & TOLAROVA, V. ( 2000). Correlation of duration of latent Toxoplasma gondii infection with personality changes in women. Biological Psychology 53, 57–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FLEGR, J., PREISS, M., KLOSE, J., HAVLICEK, J., VITAKOVA, M. & KODYM, P. ( 2003). Decreased level of psychobiological factor novelty seeking and lower intelligence in men latently infected with the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Dopamine, a missing link between schizophrenia and toxoplasmosis? Biological Psychology 63, 253–268.Google Scholar
FLEGR, J., ZITKOVA, S., KODYM, P. & FRYNTA, D. ( 1996). Induction of changes in human behaviour by the parasitic protozoan Toxoplasma gondii. Parasitology 113, 49–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FOLSTAD, I. & KARTER, A. J. ( 1992). Parasites, bright males, and the immunocompetence handicap. American Naturalist 139, 603–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HAVLÍČEK, J., GAšOVÁ, Z., SMITH, A. P., ZVÁRA, K. & FLEGR, J. ( 2001). Decrease of psychomotor performance in subjects with latent ‘asymptomatic’ toxoplasmosis. Parasitology 122, 515–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HEALD, A. H., IVISON, F., ANDERSON, S. G., CRUICKSHANK, K., LAING, I. & GIBSON, J. M. ( 2003). Significant ethnic variation in total and free testosterone concentration. Clinical Endocrinology 58, 262–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HERAULT, Y., FRAUDEAU, N., ZAKANY, J. & DUBOULE, D. ( 1997). Ulnaless (Ul), a regulatory mutation inducing both loss-of-function and gain-of-function of posterior Hoxd genes. Development 124, 3493–3500.Google Scholar
KNUSSMANN, R. ( 1988). Anthropologie. Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.
MANNING, J. T. ( 2002). Digit Ratio: A Pointer to Fertility, Behavior, and Heatlh. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey.
MANNING, J. T., BARLEY, L., WALTON, J., LEWIS-JONES, D. I., TRIVERS, R. L., SINGH, D., THORNHILL, R., ROHDE, P., BERECZKEL, T., HENZI, P., SULER, M. & SZWED, A. ( 2000). The 2nd: 4th digit ratio, sexual dimorphism, population differences, and reproductive success. Evidence for sexually antagonistic genes? Evolution and Human Behavior 21, 163–183.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MANNING, J. T., SCUTT, D., WILSON, J. & LEWIS-JONES, D. I. ( 1998). The ratio of 2nd to 4th digit length: a predictor of sperm numbers and concentrations of testosterone, luteinizing hormone and oestrogen. Human Reproduction 13, 3000–3004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MANNING, J. T., TRIVERS, R. & SINGH, D. ( 1999). The mystery of female beauty. Nature, London 399, 214–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MARTIN, R. & SALLER, K. ( 1957). Lehrbuch der Anthropologie in systematischer Darstellung. Gustar Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart.
MØLLER, A. P. ( 1996). Parasitism and developmental instability of hosts: A review. OIKOS 77, 189–196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NEAVE, N., LAING, S., FINK, B. & MANNING, J. T. ( 2003). Second to fourth digit ratio, testosterone, and perceived male dominance. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 270, 2167–2172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
OKTEN, A., KALYONCU, M. & YARIS, N. ( 2002). The ratio of second- and fourth-digit lengths and congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency. Early Human Development 70, 47–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PEICHEL, C. L., PRABHAKARAN, B. & VOGT, T. F. ( 1997). The mouse Ulnaless mutation deregulates posterior HoxD gene expression and alters appendicular patterning. Development 124, 3481–3492.Google Scholar
PHELPS, V. R. ( 2004). Relative index finger length as a sex-influenced trait in man. American Journal of Human Genetics 4, 72–89.Google Scholar
POIANI, A., GOLDSMITH, A. R. & EVANS, M. R. ( 2000). Ectoparasites of house sparrows (Passer domesticus): an experimental test of the immunocompetence handicap hypothesis and a new model. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 47, 230–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POKORNÝ, J., FRUHBAUER, Z., POLEDŇÁKOVÁ, S., SÝKORA, J., ZÁSTĚRA, M. & FIALOVÁ, D. ( 1989). Assessment of antitoxoplasmatic IgG antibodies with the ELISA method. Československá Epidemiologie 38, 355–361.Google Scholar
ROBERTS, C. W., WALKER, W. & ALEXANDER, J. ( 2001). Sex-associated hormones and immunity to protozoan parasites. Clinical Microbiology Reviews 14, 476–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHUSTER, J. P. & SCHAUB, G. A. ( 2001). Experimental Chagas disease: the influence of sex and psychoneuroimmunological factors. Parasitology Research 87, 994–1000.Google Scholar
SHIRTCLIFF, E. A., GRANGER, D. A. & LIKOS, A. ( 2002). Gender differences in the validity of testosterone measured in saliva by immunoassay. Hormones and Behavior 42, 62–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SORENSON, J. C., MEIER, R. J. & CAMPBELL, B. C. ( 1993). Dermatoglyphic asymmetry and testosterone levels in normal males. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 90, 185–198.Google Scholar
WARREN, J. & SABIN, A. B. ( 1942). The complement fixation reaction in toxoplasmic infection. Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 51, 11–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WATSON, P. J. & THORNHILL, R. ( 1994). Fluctuating asymmetry and sexual selection. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 9, 21–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WILSON, G. D. ( 1983). Finger-length as an index of assertiveness in women. Personality and Individual Differences 4, 111–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ZUK, M., JOHNSEN, T. S. & MacLARTY, T. ( 1995). Endocrine-immune interactions, ornaments and mate choice in red jungle fowl. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 260, 205–210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ZUK, M. & McKEAN, K. A. ( 1996). Sex differences in parasite infections: Patterns and processes. International Journal for Parasitology 26, 1009–1023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar