Doctoral Dissertation Research: Female reproductive ecology and energy availability in a high adiposity human population

博士论文研究：高肥胖人群中的女性生殖生态学和能量可用性

• 批准号: 2216659
• 负责人: Richard Bribiescas
• 金额: $ 2.52万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2216659&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Female; reproductive

Human reproduction requires females to invest significant amounts of caloric energy into pregnancy, lactation, and childcare. It has been proposed that females have evolved ways to vary how much energy they spend on reproduction in response to energy availability, which has commonly been indexed by body fat. Excess body fat can adversely affect reproductive hormone pathways and disrupt menstrual cycles, and it is not clear whether this might in part be due to the influence of body fat levels on sensitivity to stress. This research project examines female reproductive function among women in a population with comparatively high body fat levels who have been shown previously - in contrast to other populations - to experience relatively low rates of irregular menstrual cycles. In addition to contributing to a greater understanding of the diversity of body fat-reproductive function associations, this project supports scientific training for female graduate students and scientists in the research community, and helps strengthen scientific partnerships with local communities. Reproductive biologists have developed two scientific models to describe the relationship between ovarian function and caloric energy availability. The Lipostatic Model suggests that female reproductive function is closely associated with body fat levels, while the Metabolic Model suggests that female reproductive function is more strongly affected by caloric energy deficiencies. This project tests these models among females with high body fat levels by 1) examining the prevalence of menstrual irregularity and loss of ovulation among a study sample of approximately 150 females of mid-reproductive age, and 2) assessing reproductive hormone levels across the menstrual cycle in relation to body fat levels and physical activity. By using gold-standard dual x-ray absorptiometry to estimate subcutaneous fat together with wearable physical activity monitors to quantify daily physical activity, the project can address the question of whether high body fat levels protect female reproductive function from energetic stress caused by increased caloric demands.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

人类的繁殖需要女性在怀孕、哺乳和育儿方面投入大量的热量。有人提出，女性已经进化出一些方法来改变她们在繁殖上花费的能量，以响应能量的可用性，这通常以身体脂肪为指标。过多的身体脂肪会对生殖激素途径产生不利影响并扰乱月经周期，目前尚不清楚这是否部分归因于身体脂肪水平对压力敏感性的影响。该研究项目检查了体脂水平相对较高的人群中女性的生殖功能，此前研究表明，与其他人群相比，这些女性的月经周期不规律发生率相对较低。除了有助于更好地了解身体脂肪与生殖功能关联的多样性之外，该项目还支持对研究界女研究生和科学家的科学培训，并有助于加强与当地社区的科学伙伴关系。生殖生物学家开发了两种科学模型来描述卵巢功能与卡路里能量可用性之间的关系。脂肪抑制模型表明女性生殖功能与身体脂肪水平密切相关，而代谢模型表明女性生殖功能更容易受到热量缺乏的影响。该项目在体脂水平较高的女性中测试这些模型，方法是：1) 检查约 150 名中等生育年龄女性的研究样本中月经不规律和排卵丧失的患病率，2) 评估整个月经周期的生殖激素水平与身体脂肪水平和体力活动有关。通过使用金标准双 X 射线吸收测定法来估计皮下脂肪，并结合可穿戴身体活动监测器来量化日常身体活动，该项目可以解决高体脂水平是否可以保护女性生殖功能免受热量需求增加引起的能量压力的问题该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。