Ecology and ovarian function among Lese women of the Ituri forest, Zaire

Dados Bibliográficos

ID8319956
AutoresPeter M Elias (0000-0002-0069-9064, Harvard University), Peter T Ellison, Nadine R Peacock, Nadine Peacock (University of California, Los Angeles), Catherine Lager (Harvard University)
Ano1989
Volume78
Fascículo4
Páginas519-526
Data de publicação1989-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.1330780407
PMID2712164
OpenAlexW1994268991
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas66
Referências citadas11

Ovarian function is examined in 35 Lese women inhabiting the Ituri Forest of northeastern Zaire over a period of 4 months through measurements of progesterone in saliva samples collected twice weekly. Ovulatory frequency is found to be only 56% on average, with a pattern of age variation similar to that observed in western women, though lower in level at each age. Average luteal progesterone levels of the Lese women are lower than those of Boston controls even if only ovulatory cycles are considered. Women with the poorest nutritional status, inferred from longitudinal weight changes and weight for height, show the greatest compromise of ovarian function, and the average ovulatory frequency of the whole sample declines in parallel with a period of weight loss over four months. It is suggested that low ovulatory frequency and luteal insufficiency contribute to the low fecundity of the Lese population and that nutritional status is likely to be one of the ecological factors modulating this effect

Biology · Fecundity · Follicular phase · Luteal phase · Population · Animal Diversity and Health Studies · Demography · Ecology · Endocrinology · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Medicine · Physiology · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology · Gerontology