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Maternal serum cortisol levels during pregnancy differ by fetal sex. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2023; 149:105999. [PMID: 36543024 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105999] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Males and females have different patterns of fetal growth, resulting in different sizes at birth. Increased maternal cortisol levels in pregnancy negatively impact fetal growth. However, it is unknown whether sexual dimorphism displays differences in maternal cortisol levels already during early pregnancy and to what extent it explains sex differences in intra-uterine growth. The present cross-sectional study investigated whether fetal sex was associated with the level of maternal serum total cortisol in first half of pregnancy and its contribution to sex differences in fetal growth. METHOD The study population comprised 3049 pregnant women from the Amsterdam Born Children and their Development (ABCD)-cohort). Total serum cortisol levels were determined during pregnancy. Multivariable linear regression was used to determine fetal sex differences in maternal cortisol levels and its association with sex differences in fetal growth measured as birth weight standardized for gestational age, parity and sex. RESULTS Maternal serum total cortisol increased during pregnancy from on average 390 ± 22 nmol/L (at 5th week) to 589 ± 15 nmol/L (at 20th week). Women carrying a female fetus had higher maternal total cortisol levels. This sex difference was not significant before the 11th week; at the 12th week the difference was 15 ± 7 nmol/L which increased to 45 ± 22 nmol/L at the 20th week (p-for-interaction=0.05). Maternal total cortisol levels were associated with birth weight (ß:-0.22;P < 0.001). However, sex differences in birth weight were not explained by related maternal total cortisol levels. CONCLUSION The sexual dimorphic maternal serum total cortisol levels are apparent after the first trimester but do not explain the different patterns of fetal growth.
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García-Patterson A, Miñambres I, Adelantado JM, Gich I, Puig T, de Leiva A, Corcoy R. Sex ratio at birth is associated with type 1 diabetes characteristics. Acta Diabetol 2016; 53:1025-1035. [PMID: 27696072 DOI: 10.1007/s00592-016-0919-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2016] [Accepted: 09/14/2016] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
AIMS To assess the association between maternal diabetes characteristics and sex ratio at birth (SRB) in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus. METHODS We performed a case-control study. The study subjects were infants born alive to women with type 1 diabetes and singleton pregnancies. Cases and controls were defined as male and female newborns, respectively. SRB was analysed according to diabetes-related characteristics adjusting in a logistic regression analysis for maternal characteristics known to affect SRB in the general population. RESULTS The observed SRB (238 males/468 live births = 0.509) did not differ from the expected. In the logistic regression analysis, SRB was significantly associated with three diabetes characteristics: (1) diabetes duration, with odds ratios (ORs) for a live male newborn = 1.22 (95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.66-2.24 for ≤5 years, OR 2.79 (95 % CI 1.36-5.74) for >20 years; (2) mean first-trimester glycated haemoglobin, with OR 1.98 (95 % CI 1.09-3.62) for ≤6.7 % (50 mmol/mol) and OR 2.61 (95 % CI 1.16-5.85) for >8.2 % (66 mmol/mol) and (3) mean first-trimester insulin dose, with OR 0.70 (95 % CI 0.36-1.38) for ≤0.5 IU/kg/day and OR 0.18 (95 % CI 0.05-0.59) for >1.0 IU/kg/day. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that SRB in this cohort is independently associated with three diabetes characteristics. These associations are to be confirmed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Apolonia García-Patterson
- Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Inka Miñambres
- Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Juan María Adelantado
- Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
| | - Ignasi Gich
- Department of Clinic Epidemiology and Public Health, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
- CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Av. de Monforte de Lemos, 5, 28029, Madrid, Spain
- Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Teresa Puig
- Department of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Preventive Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
- Department of Clinic Epidemiology and Public Health, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alberto de Leiva
- Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain
- Department of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain
- CIBER Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanotechnology (CIBER-BBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, c/Poeta Mariano Esquillor s/n, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Rosa Corcoy
- Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain.
- Institute of Biomedical Research (IIB Sant Pau), Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Avgda. Sant Antoni Mª Claret 167, 08025, Barcelona, Spain.
- Department of Medicine, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Plaça Cívica, Campus de la UAB, 08193, Cerdanyola, Spain.
- CIBER Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanotechnology (CIBER-BBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, c/Poeta Mariano Esquillor s/n, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain.
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PARTIALLY CONSTRAINED SEX ALLOCATION AND THE INDIRECT EFFECTS OF ASSISTED REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ON THE HUMAN SEX RATIO. J Biosoc Sci 2016; 49:281-291. [PMID: 27090908 DOI: 10.1017/s0021932016000146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Infertility affects around 15% of human couples and in many countries approximately 1-4% of babies are born following Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART). Several ART techniques are used and these differentially affect the sex ratio of offspring successfully produced. These direct effects on sex ratio also have the potential to influence, indirectly, the sex ratios of offspring born to untreated couples. This is of concern because human sex ratio bias may adversely affect public health. Here the extent of indirect effects of ART that could operate, via Fisherian frequency-dependent natural selection, on the progeny sex ratio of unassisted members of a population is heuristically modelled. Given the degrees to which ART techniques bias sex ratios directly, it is predicted that well over 20% of couples would have to reproduce via ART for there to be any discernible effect on the sex ratios produced, in response, by the remainder of the population. This value is greater than the estimated prevalence of infertility problems among human couples. It is concluded that providing ART to couples with fertility problems does not currently generate significant ethical issues or public health concern in terms of indirect effects on the offspring sex ratios of untreated couples.
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Do differences in Toxoplasma prevalence influence global variation in secondary sex ratio? Preliminary ecological regression study. Parasitology 2016; 143:1193-203. [DOI: 10.1017/s0031182016000597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
SUMMARYSex of the fetus is genetically determined such that an equal number of sons and daughters are born in large populations. However, the ratio of female to male births across human populations varies significantly. Many factors have been implicated in this. The theory that natural selection should favour female offspring under suboptimal environmental conditions implies that pathogens may affect secondary sex ratio (ratio of male to female births). Using regression models containing 13 potential confounding factors, we have found that variation of the secondary sex ratio can be predicted by seroprevalence of Toxoplasma across 94 populations distributed across African, American, Asian and European continents. Toxoplasma seroprevalence was the third strongest predictor of secondary sex ratio, β = −0·097, P < 0·01, after son preference, β = 0·261, P < 0·05, and fertility, β = −0·145, P < 0·001. Our preliminary results suggest that Toxoplasma gondii infection could be one of the most important environmental factors influencing the global variation of offspring sex ratio in humans. The effect of latent toxoplasmosis on public health could be much more serious than it is usually supposed to be.
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James WH. Studies of human sex ratios at birth may lead to the understanding of several forms of pathology. Hum Biol 2015; 85:769-88. [PMID: 25078960 DOI: 10.3378/027.085.0513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/09/2013] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
This article deals with the problem of the causes of the variation of sex ratio (proportion male) at birth. This problem is common to a number of areas in biology and medicine, for example, obstetrics, neurology/psychiatry, parasitology, virology, oncology, and teratology. It is established that there are signifi cantly biased, but unexplained, sex ratios in each of these fields. Yet workers in them (with the possible exception of virology) have regarded the problem as a minor loose end, irrelevant to the field's major problems. However, as far as I know, no one has previously noted that unexplained biased sex ratios occur, and thus pose (perhaps similar) problems, in all these fields. Here it is suggested that similar sorts of solutions apply in each. Further research is proposed for testing each solution. If the argument here is substantially correct across this range of topics, it may lead to an improved understanding not only of sex ratio but also of some of the pathologies in these specialties.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H James
- The Galton Laboratory, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT UK
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Michalski AM, Richardson SD, Browne ML, Carmichael SL, Canfield MA, VanZutphen AR, Anderka MT, Marshall EG, Druschel CM. Sex ratios among infants with birth defects, National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997-2009. Am J Med Genet A 2015; 167A:1071-81. [PMID: 25711982 DOI: 10.1002/ajmg.a.36865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2014] [Accepted: 10/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
A small number of population-based studies have examined sex differences among infants with birth defects. This study presents estimates of sex ratio for both isolated cases and those with multiple congenital anomalies, as well as by race/ethnicity. Male-female sex ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated for 25,952 clinically reviewed case infants included in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (1997-2009), a large population-based case-control study of birth defects. The highest elevations in sex ratios (i.e., male preponderance) among isolated non-cardiac defects were for craniosynostosis (2.12), cleft lip with cleft palate (2.01), and cleft lip without cleft palate (1.78); the lowest sex ratios (female preponderance) were for choanal atresia (0.45), cloacal exstrophy (0.46), and holoprosencephaly (0.64). Among isolated cardiac defects, the highest sex ratios were for aortic stenosis (2.88), coarctation of the aorta (2.51), and d-transposition of the great arteries (2.34); the lowest were multiple ventricular septal defects (0.52), truncus arteriosus (0.63), and heterotaxia with congenital heart defect (0.64). Differences were observed by race/ethnicity for some but not for most types of birth defects. The sex differences we observed for specific defects, between those with isolated versus multiple defects, as well as by race/ethnicity, demonstrate patterns that may suggest etiology and improve classification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrian M Michalski
- New York State Department of Health, Congenital Malformations Registry, Albany, New York
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Schnettler S, Klüsener S. Economic stress or random variation? Revisiting German reunification as a natural experiment to investigate the effect of economic contraction on sex ratios at birth. Environ Health 2014; 13:117. [PMID: 25533777 PMCID: PMC4391084 DOI: 10.1186/1476-069x-13-117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2013] [Accepted: 12/04/2014] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The economic stress hypothesis (ESH) predicts decreases in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) following economic decline. However, as many factors influence the SRB, this hypothesis is difficult to test empirically. Thus, researchers make use of quasi-experiments such as German reunification: The economy in East, but not in West Germany, underwent a rapid decline in 1991. A co-occurrence of a decline in the East German SRB in 1991 has been interpreted by some as support for the ESH. However, another explanation might be that the low SRB in 1991 stems from increased random variation in the East German SRB due to a drastically reduced number of births during the crisis. We look into this alternative random variation hypothesis (RVH) by re-examining the German case with more detailed data. METHODS Our analysis has two parts. First, using aggregate-level birth register data for all births in the period between 1946 and 2011, we plot the quantum and variance of the SRB and the number of births and unemployment rates, separately for East and West Germany, and conduct a time series analysis on the East German SRB over time. Second, we model the odds for a male birth at the individual level in a multiple logistic regression (1991-2010, ~13.9 million births). Explanatory variables are related to the level of the individual birth, the mother of the child born, and the regional economic context. RESULTS The aggregate-level analysis reveals a higher degree of variation of the SRB in East Germany. Deviations from the time trend occur in several years, seemingly unrelated to economic development, and the deviation in 1991 is not statistically significant. The individual-level analysis confirms that the 1991-drop in the East German SRB cannot directly be attributed to economic development and that there is no statistically significant effect of economic development on sex determination in East or West Germany. CONCLUSION Outcomes support the RVH but not the ESH. Furthermore, our results speak against a statistically significant effect of the reunification event itself on the East German SRB. We discuss the relative importance of behavioral and physiological responses to macro-level stressors, a distinction that may help integrate previously mixed findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Schnettler
- Department of Sociology, University of Konstanz, Box 40, Universitätsstr. 10, 78457, Konstanz, Germany.
| | - Sebastian Klüsener
- Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Konrad-Zuse-Str. 1, 18057, Rostock, Germany.
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Maalouf WE, Mincheva MN, Campbell BK, Hardy ICW. Effects of assisted reproductive technologies on human sex ratio at birth. Fertil Steril 2014; 101:1321-5. [PMID: 24602756 DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2014.01.041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2013] [Revised: 01/13/2014] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatments on the sex ratio of babies born. DESIGN Assessment of direct effects of assisted conception through retrospective data analysis on the progeny sex ratio of treated women in the United Kingdom. SETTING The study uses the anonymized register of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. PATIENT(S) A total of 106,066 babies of known gender born to 76,994 treated mothers and 85,511 treatment cycles between 2000 and 2010 in the United Kingdom. INTERVENTION(S) Intrauterine insemination, IVF, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S) Sex ratio of babies born. RESULT(S) Intrauterine insemination, IVF, and ICSI lead to different sex ratios, highest after IVF (proportion male = mean 0.521 ± confidence interval 0.0056) and lowest under ICSI embryo transfer (0.493 ± 0.0031). In addition, for both ICSI and IVF, transferring embryos at a later stage (blastocyst) results in approximately 6% more males than after early cleavage-stage ET. CONCLUSION(S) Because the cumulative number of IVF babies born is increasing significantly in Britain and elsewhere, more research is needed into the causes of gender bias after ART and into the public health impact of such gender bias of offspring born observed on the rest of the population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Walid E Maalouf
- Division of Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
| | - Mina N Mincheva
- Division of Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Bruce K Campbell
- Division of Child Health, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Nottingham, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Ian C W Hardy
- School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, United Kingdom
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