Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: The Effects of Maternal Condition on Lactational Investment and Infant Outcome in Rhesus Macaques

本研究将探讨两个重要的问题：（1）母亲的生理和社会条件如何影响哺乳投资，如乳汁成分、产奶量和哺乳行为。（2）哺乳期投入的差异如何影响婴儿结局？目前很少有人知道的因素，影响的主要形式的母亲投资在非人灵长类动物，动员母亲的身体储备哺乳。一些研究表明，一些牛奶成分，特别是脂肪，具有很高的个体间差异，但个体差异的来源和幅度尚未得到解释。这项研究将评估加州国家灵长类动物研究中心（CNPRC）饲养的75只恒河猴的母亲年龄、健康和哺乳之间的关系。健康状况良好或不佳的年轻母亲和壮年母亲的牛奶质量、哺乳行为和婴儿结局的比较将表明母亲如何根据自己的生理状况操纵投资。这些数据将提供系统的信息，产妇的护理行为和生理投资如何影响婴儿的生长和活动。这项研究将探索哺乳的基本方面，以前没有被调查，并推进我们的理解如何选择塑造了产妇的生殖strategy.The数据从这项研究将告知一个关键的全球性问题，影响人类母亲和他们的婴儿的健康。美国和世界各地的母乳喂养率明显低于最佳水平，对婴儿的发育和健康造成了长期的有害影响。在了解恒河猴母亲在受控研究条件下哺乳期间如何受到健康和生长的限制方面取得的进展将为人类母亲面临的类似挑战提供深入了解，并为当前的全球健康问题提供重要信息。这项研究将提供一个框架，从进化的角度和机械的解释工作的研究人员合作。 此外，一旦更好地了解产妇状况和乳汁成分，就可以在自然生态条件下对人群进行有针对性的研究，促进未来研究项目的国际合作。

The proposed project will address two important questions: (1) How does maternal physiological and social condition affect lactational investment as measured by milk composition, milk yield, and nursing behavior? and (2) How do differences in lactational investment affect infant outcomes? Currently little is known about the factors that influence the primary form of maternal investment in non-human primates, the mobilization of maternal bodily reserves for lactation. Several studies demonstrate that some milk constituents, particularly fat, have high inter-individual variation, but the source and magnitude of individual differences have not been explained. The proposed study will assess the relationship between maternal age, health and lactation in 75 captive rhesus macaques housed at the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC). Comparisons of milk quality, nursing behavior, and infant outcome in young and prime age mothers in good or poor health will indicate how mothers manipulate investment in relation to their own physiological condition. These data will provide systematic information about how maternal nursing behavior and physiological investment affect infant growth and activity. This study will explore fundamental aspects of lactation that have previously not been investigated, and advance our understanding of how selection has shaped maternal reproductive strategies.The data from this study will inform a critical global issue affecting the health of human mothers and their infants. Breastfeeding rates in the US and throughout the world are significantly below optimum, contributing to long-term deleterious developmental and health consequences for the infant. Advances in understanding how rhesus mothers are constrained by health and growth during lactation under controlled research conditions will provide insight into similar challenges for human mothers and provide vital information for current global health concerns. This study will provide a framework for collaboration with researchers working from evolutionary perspectives and mechanistic explanations. Additionally, once a better understanding of maternal condition and milk composition is achieved, targeted studies can be implemented with populations under natural ecological conditions, facilitating international collaboration on future research projects.