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Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Kelly, CD; Stoehr, AM; Nunn, C; Smyth, KN; Prokop, ZM
Published in: Ecology letters
December 2018

In animals, sex differences in immunity are proposed to shape variation in infection prevalence and intensity among individuals in a population, with females typically expected to exhibit superior immunity due to life-history trade-offs. We performed a systematic meta-analysis to investigate the magnitude and direction of sex differences in immunity and to identify factors that shape sex-biased immunocompetence. In addition to considering taxonomic and methodological effects as moderators, we assessed age-related effects, which are predicted to occur if sex differences in immunity are due to sex-specific resource allocation trade-offs with reproduction. In a meta-analysis of 584 effects from 124 studies, we found that females exhibit a significantly stronger immune response than do males, but the effect size is relatively small, and became non-significant after controlling for phylogeny. Female-biased immunity was more pronounced in adult than immature animals. More recently published studies did not report significantly smaller effect sizes. Among taxonomic and methodological subsets of the data, some of the largest effect sizes were in insects, further supporting previous suggestions that testosterone is not the only potential driver of sex differences in immunity. Our findings challenge the notion of pervasive biases towards female-biased immunity and the role of testosterone in driving these differences.

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Published In

Ecology letters

DOI

EISSN

1461-0248

ISSN

1461-023X

Publication Date

December 2018

Volume

21

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1885 / 1894

Related Subject Headings

  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Phylogeny
  • Male
  • Insecta
  • Infections
  • Immunity
  • Female
  • Ecology
  • Animals
 

Citation

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Kelly, C. D., Stoehr, A. M., Nunn, C., Smyth, K. N., & Prokop, Z. M. (2018). Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis. Ecology Letters, 21(12), 1885–1894. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13164
Kelly, Clint D., Andrew M. Stoehr, Charles Nunn, Kendra N. Smyth, and Zofia M. Prokop. “Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis.Ecology Letters 21, no. 12 (December 2018): 1885–94. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13164.
Kelly CD, Stoehr AM, Nunn C, Smyth KN, Prokop ZM. Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis. Ecology letters. 2018 Dec;21(12):1885–94.
Kelly, Clint D., et al. “Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis.Ecology Letters, vol. 21, no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 1885–94. Epmc, doi:10.1111/ele.13164.
Kelly CD, Stoehr AM, Nunn C, Smyth KN, Prokop ZM. Sexual dimorphism in immunity across animals: a meta-analysis. Ecology letters. 2018 Dec;21(12):1885–1894.
Journal cover image

Published In

Ecology letters

DOI

EISSN

1461-0248

ISSN

1461-023X

Publication Date

December 2018

Volume

21

Issue

12

Start / End Page

1885 / 1894

Related Subject Headings

  • Sex Characteristics
  • Reproduction
  • Phylogeny
  • Male
  • Insecta
  • Infections
  • Immunity
  • Female
  • Ecology
  • Animals