Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-c4f8m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T06:19:56.277Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

AMENDMENTS TO HYPOTHESES ON THE PROXIMATE CAUSES OF VARIATION IN HUMAN SEX RATIOS AT BIRTH WITH PARENTAL INFECTION WITH HEPATITIS B VIRUS OR TOXOPLASMA GONDII

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2011

WILLIAM H. JAMES
Affiliation:
The Galton Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, UK

Summary

In a recent paper in this Journal, I offered hypotheses on the offspring sex ratios of women infected with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, and on the offspring sex ratios of people who are carriers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) (James, 2008). Subsequent research suggests that these hypotheses need amending. A detailed account of the amendments is given elsewhere in a specialized journal (James, 2010a). Here they are summarized.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Blumberg, B. S. (2006) The curiosities of the hepatitis B virus: prevention, sex ratio and demography. Proceedings of the American Thoracic Society 3, 1420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Camargo, L. M. A., Moura, M. M., Engracia, V., Pagotto, R. C., Basano, S. A., Da Silva, L. H. P. et al. (2002) A rural community in a Brazilian Western Amazonian region: some demographic and epidemiological patterns. Memaorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz 97, 193195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cazal, P., Lemiare, J. M. & Robinet-Levy, M. (1976) Hepatitis B et rapport du masculinite. Revue Francaise de Transfusion et Immunohematologie 19, 577581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chahnazarian, A., Blumberg, B. S. & London, W. T. (1988) Hepatitis B and the sex ratio at birth: a comparative analysis of four populations. Journal of Biosocial Science 20, 357370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J., Hruskova, M., Hodny, Z., Novotna, M. & Hanusova, J. (2005) Body height, body mass index, waist–hip ratio, fluctuating asymmetry and second to fourth digit ratio of subjects with latent toxoplasmosis. Parasitology 130, 621628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flegr, J., Lindova, J., Pivonkova, V. & Havlicek, J. (2008) Latent toxoplasmosis and salivary testosterone concentrations: important confounding factors in second to fourth digit ratios. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 137, 479489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, W. H. (1996) Evidence that mammalian sex ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormone levels at the time of conception. Journal of Theoretical Biology 180, 271286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (2004) Further evidence that mammalian sex ratios at birth are partially controlled by parental hormone levels around the time of conception. Human Reproduction 19, 12501256.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (2008) Further support for the hypothesis that parental hormone levels around the time of conception are associated with human sex ratios at birth. Journal of Biosocial Science 40, 855861.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
James, W. H. (2010a) Potential solutions to problems posed by the offspring sex ratios of people with viral and other infections. Folia Parasitologica 57, 114120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, W. H. (2010b) Behavioural and biological determinants of human sex ratio at birth. Journal of Biosocial Science 42(5), 587599.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kankova, S., Kodym, P., Frynta, D., Vavrinova, R., Kubena, A. & Flegr, J. (2007a) Influence of latent toxoplasmosis on the secondary sex ratio in mice. Parasitology 134, 17091717.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kankova, S., Sule, J., Nouzova, K., Fajfrlik, K., Frynta, D. & Flegr, J. (2007b) Women infected with parasite Toxoplasma have more sons. Naturwissenschaften 94, 122127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leung, N. (2009) Chronic hepatitis B in Asian women of childbearing age. Hepatology International, epub 9.7.09.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lin, M-J. & Luoh, M-C. (2008) Can hepatitis B mothers account for the number of missing women? Evidence from three million newborns in Taiwan. American Economic Review 98, 22592273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mazzur, S. & Watson, T. M. (1974) Excess males among sibs of Australia antigen carriers. Nature 250, 6061.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oster, E. (2005) Hepatitis B and the case of the missing women. Journal of Political Economy 113, 11631216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stefos, A. (2009) Descriptive epidemiology of chronic hepatitis B by using data from a hepatitis registry in Central Greece. European Journal of Internal Medicine 20, 3543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yu, M. W. & Chen, C-J. (1993) Elevated serum testosterone levels and risk of hepatocellular cancer. Cancer Research 53, 790794.Google Scholar
Yuan, J. M., Ross, R. K., Stanczyk, F. Z., Govindarajan, S., Gao, Y. T., Henderson, B. E. & Yu, M. C. (1995) A cohort study of serum testosterone and hepatocellular carcinoma in Shanghai, China. International Journal of Cancer 63, 491493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zuckerman, M. (1994) Behavioral Expression and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking. Cambridge University Press, New York.Google Scholar