Pomeroy, E;
Stock, JT;
Stanojevic, S;
Jaime Miranda, J;
Cole, TJ;
Wells, JCK;
(2012)
Trade-Offs in Relative Limb Length among Peruvian Children: Extending the Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis to Limb Proportions.
PLOS ONE
, 7
(12)
, Article e51795. 10.1371/journal.pone.0051795.
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Abstract
Background and Methods Both the concept of ‘brain-sparing’ growth and associations between relative lower limb length, childhood environment and adult disease risk are well established. Furthermore, tibia length is suggested to be particularly plastic under conditions of environmental stress. The mechanisms responsible are uncertain, but three hypotheses may be relevant. The ‘thrifty phenotype’ assumes that some components of growth are selectively sacrificed to preserve more critical outcomes, like the brain. The ‘distal blood flow’ hypothesis assumes that blood nutrients decline with distance from the heart, and hence may affect limbs in relation to basic body geometry. Temperature adaptation predicts a gradient of decreased size along the limbs reflecting decreasing tissue temperature/blood flow. We examined these questions by comparing the size of body segments among Peruvian children born and raised in differentially stressful environments. In a cross-sectional sample of children aged 6 months to 14 years (n = 447) we measured head circumference, head-trunk height, total upper and lower limb lengths, and zeugopod (ulna and tibia) and autopod (hand and foot) lengths. Results Highland children (exposed to greater stress) had significantly shorter limbs and zeugopod and autopod elements than lowland children, while differences in head-trunk height were smaller. Zeugopod elements appeared most sensitive to environmental conditions, as they were relatively shorter among highland children than their respective autopod elements. Discussion The results suggest that functional traits (hand, foot, and head) may be partially protected at the expense of the tibia and ulna. The results do not fit the predictions of the distal blood flow and temperature adaptation models as explanations for relative limb segment growth under stress conditions. Rather, our data support the extension of the thrifty phenotype hypothesis to limb growth, and suggest that certain elements of limb growth may be sacrificed under tough conditions to buffer more functional traits.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Trade-Offs in Relative Limb Length among Peruvian Children: Extending the Thrifty Phenotype Hypothesis to Limb Proportions |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0051795 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0051795 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2012 Pomeroy et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. EP received Ph.D. funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), and fieldwork grants from the University of Cambridge Centre for Latin American Studies Abbey-Santander Travel Grants. JJM is with the CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia which is funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, under contract number HHSN268200900033C. TJC is funded by Medical Research Council grant G0700961. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. J. Jaime Miranda is a PLOS ONE Editorial Board member. EP received an Abbey-Santander Travel Grant through the University of Cambridge. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1383946 |
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