title: Maternal effects on offspring stress physiology in wild chimpanzees.
abstract: Early life experiences are known to influence hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis development, which can impact health outcomes through the individual's ability to mount appropriate physiological reactions to stressors. In primates, these early experiences are most often mediated through the mother and can include the physiological environment experienced during gestation. Here, we investigate stress physiology of dependent offspring in wild chimpanzees for the first time and examine whether differences in maternal stress physiology are related to differences in offspring stress physiology. Specifically, we explore the relationship between maternal rank and maternal fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentration during pregnancy and early lactation (first 6 months post-partum) and examine whether differences based on maternal rank are associated with dependent offspring FGM concentrations. We found that low-ranking females exhibited significantly higher FGM concentrations during pregnancy than during the first 6 months of lactation. Furthermore, during pregnancy, low-ranking females experienced significantly higher FGM concentrations than high-ranking females. As for dependent offspring, we found that male offspring of low-ranking mothers experienced stronger decreases in FGM concentrations as they aged compared to males with high-ranking mothers or their dependent female counterparts. Together, these results suggest that maternal rank and FGM concentrations experienced during gestation are related to offspring stress physiology and that this relationship is particularly pronounced in males compared to females. Importantly, this study provides the first evidence for maternal effects on the development of offspring HPA function in wild chimpanzees, which likely relates to subsequent health and fitness outcomes. Am. J. Primatol. 80:e22525, 2018. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Carson M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Margaret A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Stanton
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington District of Columbia.
authors.forename: Kaitlin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Wellens
authors.affiliation: Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, The Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Rachel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Santymire
authors.affiliation: Davee Center for Epidemiology and Endocrinology, The Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Heintz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Elizabeth V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Lonsdorf
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000502:physiology*; D007774:Lactation / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D002679:Pan troglodytes / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012930:Social Dominance; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013636:Tanzania
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids
keywords: chimpanzees; gestational programming; maternal effects; offspring stress