[monkeywire] African Black Plum Link To Baboon Contraception
Amber Hewins
ahewins at mac.com
Sat Jul 21 16:25:48 EDT 2007
http://www.geneticarchaeology.com/Research/
African_Black_Plum_Link_To_Baboon_Contraception.asp
African Black Plum Link To Baboon Contraception (7/21/2007)
-Great Britain
Having spent a year in the rainforests of Nigeria, Post-Doctoral
Research Fellow James Higham has announced unique findings on the
reproductive ecology of female olive baboons and the contraceptive
effects of the African black plum.
The former Roehampton University PhD student investigated the
reproductive ecology of females at Gashaka-Gumti National Park for
his PhD, and used Roehampton's state-of-the-art hormone laboratory to
measure female reproductive function non-invasively from faeces.
During this study, an unexpected seasonal pattern of progestogen
excretion emerged in all females, regardless of whether they were
lactating, pregnant, or undergoing reproductive cycling at the time.
A search of detailed feeding data on the animals provided by a
previous Roehampton PhD, showed that one plant was the most likely
cause of the observed progestogen increases- the African black plum,
Vitex doniana.
"Laboratory tests I then conducted at Roehampton showed that this
plant contained phyto-progestogens not present in other food items
eaten by the animals," said James.
"This plant also happens to be closely related to another species
that is widely used in complementary medicine, and sold in health
stores worldwide, for treating PMS, menopause, and other hormone-
related women's issues. This plant, Vitex agnus castus, is commonly
known as Chasteberry, or Monk's Pepper. The relationship of this
plant to women's reproductive hormones has been known for thousands
of years, and is mentioned in Homer's The Iliad."
The effects of the increased progesterone levels on those baboon
females that were undergoing reproductive cycling were dramatic.
Because of their high levels of progesterone, females stopped
cycling. In addition, progesterone is known to prevent expression of
the bright red swellings that the females of baboons and other
primate species famously exhibit at certain times of the month.
"These swellings are very important in mediating the social aspects
of reproduction in this species, and without these swellings males
show little sexual interest in females. The seasonal consumption of
this plant therefore appeared to act on females as both a
physiological contraceptive (simulating pregnancy), and a social
contraceptive (preventing sexual swelling, and therefore reducing
interest from males)."
Other issues covered by James's PhD research included an
investigation into the relationship between ovulation and sexual
swellings. The ‘honesty' of sexual swellings in reliably indicating
ovulation to males is a key question in evolutionary signalling
theory, and this particular element of James's research won a Primate
Society of Great Britain prize at a recent conference. James's is now
continuing his research into primate ecology with a Post-Doctoral
Research Fellowship in the Centre for Research in Evolutionary
Anthropology.
Research students working on non-human primates in the Centre for
Research in Evolutionary Anthropology undertake a fascinating range
of projects often involving a combination of fieldwork, observing
animals in the wild, or in captivity, combined with analyses back in
Roehampton laboratories.
Current PhD students are working in Brazil, Puerto Rico and Nigeria
as well as on European zoological collections. Species of interest
range from mouse lemurs and baboons, to the golden-backed uacari, a
previously unstudied Amazonian monkey. Together with others doing a
Masters in Research (MRes), who've worked in Uganda, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, South Africa, Madagascar, Indonesia and Thailand,
as well as nearer to home in Gibraltar and France, our primatology
students are very well travelled. They are developing research skills
in a wide range of environments aimed at furthering understanding of
some of our nearest relations, and working towards improving their
conservation or their welfare in captivity.
Note: This story has been adapted from a news release issued by
Roehampton University
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