Uncovering system-specific stress signatures in primate teeth with multimodal imaging.

ABSTRACT: Early life stress can disrupt development and negatively impact long-term health trajectories. Reconstructing histories of early life exposure to external stressors is hampered by the absence of retrospective time-specific biomarkers. Defects in tooth enamel have been used to reconstruct stress but the methods used are subjective and do not identify the specific biological systems impacted by external stressors. Here we show that external physical and social stressors impart biochemical signatures in primate teeth that can be retrieved to objectively reconstruct the timing of early life developmental disruptions. Using teeth from captive macaques, we uncovered elemental imprints specific to disruptions of skeletal growth, including major disruptions in body weight trajectory and moderate t

SUBMITTER: Austin C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4698674 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature