ArticleProceedings. Biological sciences2009
Honest sexual signalling mediated by parasite and testosterone effects on oxidative balance.
Article in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 97 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nonspecific constitutive immunity is negatively associated with basal metabolic rate at early phase of territorial competition in males of great tit.Current zoology · 2026Article
- Further integrating social context into comparative and environmental physiology.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Review
- Amazonian Shuar testosterone levels are related to parasite infection: immunocompetence handicap hypothesis implications.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Experimental Evidence That Blood Parasite Infection Affects Incubation Patterns in a Cavity-Nesting Songbird.Integrative zoology · 2026Article
- Article
- Muscle parameters in men and oxidative stress markers.Journal of physiological anthropology · 2025Article
- Influence of sexual hormones on Chagas disease.Archivos de cardiologia de Mexico · 2024Article
- Mate choice is affected by parasite infestation rate of the choosing individual as well as of potential mating partners.Current zoology · 2023Article
- Ornaments indicate parasite load only if they are dynamic or parasites are contagious.Evolution letters · 2023Article
- A comprehensive overview of the effects of urbanisation on sexual selection and sexual traits.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2022Review
- A meta-analysis of impacts of immune response and infection on oxidative status in vertebrates.Conservation physiology · 2022Article
- Carotenoid-based coloration predicts both longevity and lifetime fecundity in male birds, but testosterone disrupts signal reliability.PloS one · 2019Article
- Manipulation of parasite load induces significant changes in the structural-based throat color of male iberian green lizards.Current zoology · 2018Article
- Physiological increase of yolk testosterone level does not affect oxidative status and telomere length in gull hatchlings.PloS one · 2018Article
- Nest-dwelling ectoparasites reduce antioxidant defences in females and nestlings of a passerine: a field experiment.Oecologia · 2015Article
- Immune response in a wild bird is predicted by oxidative status, but does not cause oxidative stress.PloS one · 2015Article
- Fine-scale population epigenetic structure in relation to gastrointestinal parasite load in red grouse (Lagopus lagopus scotica).Molecular ecology · 2014Article
- Biomarkers of oxidative status: missing tools in conservation physiology.Conservation physiology · 2014Article
- Physiological costs enforce the honesty of lek display in the black grouse (Tetrao tetrix).Oecologia · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Extravagant ornaments evolved to advertise their bearers' quality, the honesty of the signal being ensured by the cost paid to produce or maintain it. The oxidation handicap hypothesis (OHH) proposes that a main cost of testosterone-dependent ornamentation is oxidative stress, a condition whereby the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) overwhelms the capacity of antioxidant defences. ROS/RNS are unstable, very reactive by-products of normal metabolic processes that can cause extensive damage to key biomolecules (cellular proteins, lipids and DNA). Oxidative stress has been implicated in the aetiology of many diseases and could link ornamentation and genetic variation in fitness-related traits. We tested the OHH in a free-living bird, the red grouse. We show that elevated testosterone enhanced ornamentation and increased circulating antioxidant levels, but caused oxidative damage. Males with smaller ornaments suffered more oxidative damage than those with larger ornaments when forced to increase testosterone levels, consistent with a handicap mechanism. Parasites depleted antioxidant defences, caused oxidative damage and reduced ornament expression. Oxidative damage extent and the ability of males to increase antioxidant defences also explained the impacts of testosterone and parasites on ornamentation within treatment groups. Because oxidative stress is intimately linked to immune function, parasite resistance and fitness, it provides a reliable currency in the trade-off between individual health and ornamentation. The costs induced by oxidative stress can apply to a wide range of signals, which are testosterone-dependent or coloured by pigments with antioxidant properties.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.