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The Roles of Phytoestrogens in Primate Ecology and Evolution

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Abstract

Most primates depend heavily on plant foods; thus their chemical composition is key to understanding primate ecology and evolution. One class of plant compounds of strong current interest are phytoestrogens, which have the potential to alter fertility, fecundity, and survival. These plant compounds mimic the activity of vertebrate estrogens, resulting in altered physiology and behavior. Here, we review what is known about phytoestrogens from an ecological and evolutionary perspective. Much of what is known about the effects of phytoestrogens on the endocrine system comes from research on human foods, especially soybeans (Glycine max). Two opposing perspectives have resulted from this research: 1) phytoestrogens provide health benefits, such as cancer prevention, or 2) phytoestrogens act as endocrine disruptors and threaten reproductive health. Studies of wild primates have only recently begun examining the presence of estrogenic plants in the primate diet and the effects of their consumption. Evidence that a number of primate species eat plants containing phytoestrogens and research documenting behavioral and hormonal effects of estrogenic plant consumption for red colobus monkeys (Procolobus rufomitratus) augment captive and laboratory studies to suggest that these compounds promote differential survival and reproduction. Although much debate is currently taking place over the role of phytoestrogens and other endocrine disruptors in human health issues and in threatening biodiversity, we argue that an ecological and evolutionary approach is needed to reach appropriate conclusions.

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Acknowledgments

Approvals for plant collections were received from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, and U.S. Department of Agriculture. This publication was made possible in part by grant no. P51 RR000167 from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison, where measures of plant steroidal properties were conducted. This research was conducted in part at a facility constructed with support from Research Facilities Improvement Program grant nos. RR15459-01 and RR020141-01. This publication’s contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NCRR or NIH. M. Wasserman received funding from the National Science Foundation (Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (DDIG) no. 0823651 and Graduate Research Fellowship Program); the International Primatological Society; the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management; UCB Center for African Studies; the UCB Chang-Lin Tien Scholars Program (funded by the Philomathia Foundation); and McGill University’s Tomlinson Postdoctoral Fellowship to support this research. Dale Leitman, Isao Kubo, Len Bjeldanes, Toni Ziegler, Dan Wittwer, Tyrone Hayes, Paul Falso, John Fleagle, Andrew Ritchie, Alexandra Taylor-Gutt, Julie Kearney Wasserman, the anonymous reviewers, Joanna Setchell, and Jessica Rothman provided very helpful comments in the preparation of this review.

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  1. Michael D. Wasserman

    Present address: Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 2T7

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    Michael D. Wasserman & Katharine Milton

  2. Department of Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 2T7

    Colin A. Chapman

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Wasserman, M.D., Milton, K. & Chapman, C.A. The Roles of Phytoestrogens in Primate Ecology and Evolution. Int J Primatol 34, 861–878 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-013-9699-3

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