Energetic investment in human reproduction has long been recognized as costly, influencing developmental, physiological, and behavioral patterns in males and females. These effects are largely coordinated through the actions of reproductive hormones (eg, testosterone, estradiol, and progesterone). Here, the utility and limitations of minimally invasive sampling techniques are explored, providing a novel perspective on how reproductive hormone measurements can enhance reproductive endocrinology research. Salivary steroid measures are most commonly used, although several dried blood spot and urine assays are also available, and researchers continue to explore the efficacy of other sample types. These relatively simple measures have facilitated the collection of multiple samples from a single participant, allowing researchers to more accurately track the diurnal and cyclical variation exhibited by many reproductive hormones. Ultimately, the ability to collect fine‐grained participant data allows biological anthropologists to better test questions central to human reproductive ecology, life history theory, and public health. For example, fieldwork using these techniques suggests that testosterone profile variation across populations is influenced by energetic constraints and reproductive status. Moreover, hormone concentrations shape the development of sex characteristics, with implications for evolutionary questions related to sexual selection. Hormone levels also can be used to identify a range of medical concerns (eg, suppressed hormone production levels linked with psychosocial stress). These findings highlight how minimally invasive collection techniques can be applied to test diverse evolutionary hypotheses and identify important health concerns. Still, more work is needed to standardize collection and laboratory analysis procedures, thereby enabling more direct data comparisons between researchers.

中文翻译：

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微创样本类型的生殖激素测量：方法学考虑和人类学重要性

长期以来，人们一直认为对人类生殖的能量投资成本高昂，会影响男性和女性的发育、生理和行为模式。这些作用主要通过生殖激素（例如，睾酮、雌二醇和黄体酮）的作用进行协调。在这里，探讨了微创采样技术的实用性和局限性，为生殖激素测量如何增强生殖内分泌研究提供了新的视角。唾液类固醇测量是最常用的，尽管也有几种干血斑和尿液检测，研究人员继续探索其他样本类型的功效。这些相对简单的措施促进了单个参与者的多个样本的收集，允许研究人员更准确地跟踪许多生殖激素表现出的昼夜和周期性变化。最终，收集细粒度参与者数据的能力使生物人类学家能够更好地测试人类生殖生态学、生活史理论和公共卫生的核心问题。例如，使用这些技术的实地调查表明，不同人群的睾酮谱变化受能量限制和生殖状态的影响。此外，激素浓度影响性别特征的发展，对与性选择相关的进化问题产生影响。激素水平还可用于识别一系列医学问题（例如，与社会心理压力相关的激素产生水平受到抑制）。这些发现强调了如何应用微创采集技术来测试不同的进化假设并确定重要的健康问题。尽管如此，还需要做更多的工作来标准化收集和实验室分析程序，从而使研究人员之间能够进行更直接的数据比较。