Fecundity in Populations with Different Progesterone Profiles

最近发表的数据表明，不同的人群有不同水平的唾液孕酮（P），但研究人员不确定其意义。 在营养不良和压力较大的人群中，P水平长期低于健康的西方对照组。 一些生殖生态学家认为，这种差异性代表了卵巢功能的不同水平，但其他人口统计学家反驳说，生活在这种边缘条件下的女性表现出高生育力，因此必须保持生育能力。 没有直接的措施之间的关系种群间的差异，生殖力（怀孕的能力）和种群间的变异性，这种生殖类固醇，将明确支持这些断言。 本研究由两位年轻的女性研究者进行，旨在验证以下三个相关假设：1）慢性唾液P水平存在显著的人群间差异; 2）生活在压力较大环境中的女性比生活在较好环境中的女性P水平低; 3）这些种群间的差异并不转化为繁殖力和生育力的差异。 为了检验这些假设，研究人员选择了玻利维亚北波托西农村地区的一个传统的讲盖丘亚语的人口作为研究对象，他们居住在分散的社区，几乎完全依靠农业和畜牧业为生。 他们不试图限制生育数量，性病也不常见。 将对妇女进行纵向采样，检测唾液P水平，并使用人绒毛膜促性腺激素的尿指标检测并发妊娠。 还将收集与生育率决定因素有关的人口资料。 这项研究有望帮助解决上述人口统计学家和生殖生态学家之间悬而未决且备受争议的问题-特别是，记录的可变卵巢功能的生理指标是否反映了生育力和生育力的差异。

Recently published data demonstrate that different populations have varying levels of salivary progesterone (P), but researchers are uncertain as to its significance. Among less well-nourished and more stressed populations, P levels are chronically lower than among healthy Western controls. Some reproductive ecologists have suggested that this variability represents different levels of ovarian function, but other demographers counter that women living in such marginal conditions exhibit high fertility and hence must remain fecund. There has been no direct measures of the relationship between interpopulational differences in fecundity (the capacity to conceive) and interpopulational variability in such reproductive steroids that would clearly support either of these assertions. Resolving this dispute is essential before considering either the implications or causes of interpopulaitonal variability in salivary P. This research project by two younger women researchers proposes to examine the following related three hypotheses: 1) there are significant interpopulational differences in chronic levels of P; 2) women in more stressful environments have lower levels of P than women living in better conditions; and 3) these interpopulational differences do not translate into differences in fecundity and fertility. To test these hypotheses, the investigators have chosen for study a traditional Quechua-speaking population in rural Norte de Potosi, Bolivia, who live in dispersed communities and rely almost exclusively upon agriculture and herding for subsistence. They do not attempt to limit the number of births and venereal diseases are not common. Women will be sampled longitudinally for levels of salivary P, and concurrent conceptions will be detected using urinary indicators of human chorionic gonadotropin. Demographic information will also be collected related to fertility determinants. The study is expected to help resolve the outstanding and much-debated issue between demographers and reproductive ecologists described above - specifically, whether recorded physiological indicators of variable ovarian function reflect differences in fecundity and fertility.