Date of Award
9-13-2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Understanding the factors and variables that influence human health is an important area of research in biological anthropology. Research on the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) has provided a valuable framework for exploring the early life environment and its impact on future adult health and physiology. According to the lactocrine hypothesis, lactation allows for additional communication and developmental programming from the maternal body to the infant after birth through signals in the milk. Relaxin, a peptide hormone, has been the focus of recent research on postnatal developmental programming in animal models, and was identified as a central mediator of postnatal growth by the lactocrine hypothesis. Only a few studies have explored relaxin in human milk, and only one has explored its role in postnatal growth and development of infants. We investigated relaxin-1 and relaxin-2 in human milk in order to better understand their roles in postnatal development through three specific aims using samples of milk previously collected from the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey in 2007-08.
Language
English (en)
Chair and Committee
Elizabeth Quinn
Recommended Citation
Schneider, Alaina, "An Investigation of Human Relaxin-1 and Relaxin-2 Concentrations in Human Milk Samples from Women from Cebu, Philippines" (2023). Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3162.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/art_sci_etds/3162