Baby boys are more likely to cause complications during pregnancy, which may be because they grow faster in the uterus and need more nutrition and oxygen than their mothers provide through the placenta (a temporary organ attached to the uterine wall during pregnancy to help the fetus grow and develop).
Now, after studying the pregnancy of experimental mice, scientists have found that the sex of the fetus can affect the actual function of the placenta and the maternal obesity and stress caused by diet.
About one in ten women are affected by pregnancy diseases, such as fetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia-a hypertensive disease that threatens the lives of mothers and children-but these diseases may be difficult to predict and treat.
This new study shows that designing a personal treatment plan to encourage pregnant women to change their lifestyle according to the sex of their unborn baby can bring lifelong health benefits to their children-and marks the end of the tradition of waiting until the baby is born to know whether it is a boy or a girl.
"Parents usually don't want to know the sex of their children because they want to give them a surprise. But in fact, knowing the sex will help to determine whether pregnancy may be more risky than re-pregnancy, because we know that certain pregnancy conditions, such as pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction, may be more common in women who are pregnant with a baby boy than in women, "said Dr. Amanda ferruzzi-Perry, an academician of St. John's College. She works with a team from the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the Trophoblastic Research Center of Cambridge University.
"We don't know why this happens, but it may be related to the faster growth of baby boys in the uterus. Therefore, their demand for nutrition and oxygen provided by their mother through the placenta may easily become limited, so the baby boy may not accept everything he really wants and needs and need to give full play to his abilities. It may be that its resistance to stress or harsh conditions during pregnancy may be lower than that of women, because women have lower requirements.
Dr Sferruzzi-Perri's team revealed this discovery in a paper published in the Journal of Reproductive Biology. The second study, written in collaboration with researchers from institutions around the world, shows how diet-induced maternal obesity can change the structure of placenta and affect the growth of babies, including the change of fetal sex, and is published in Acta Physiologica magazine.
The growth of fetus depends on the function of placenta, and the function of placenta needs energy from mitochondria-a special compartment in our cells, which helps to convert the energy obtained from food into energy that cells can use as fuel. The researchers found that the placenta reacts differently during normal mouse pregnancy, depending on whether it supports the female fetus or the male fetus, and the placenta functions better than the lightest female fetus.
"Placenta has amazing skills in changing the way it is formed and its function," said Dr Sferruzzi-Perri. "This can be seen from the way cells are formed in placenta, genes, protein and even mitochondria. These can be changed according to different types of clues, whether in a mother who has been eating a sugary and high-fat diet or during pregnancy, when there are multiple babies, there is competition between brothers and sisters, but I think the most novel aspect may be that the way the placenta adapts seems to depend on whether the baby is female or male.
These studies show the importance of designing gender-specific treatment for placental insufficiency and fetal growth abnormality, and the importance of designing individualized lifestyle intervention or treatment for obese pregnant women.
Dr Sferruzzi-Perri said: "the data we got in the laboratory really tell us that we must consider the sex of the baby when monitoring pregnancy." "So maybe the treatment should be customized according to the sex of the baby.
Scientists already know that the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease in men and women depends on gender-men are often more likely to suffer from these two diseases. "Is this partly due to the exposure of early life? This is a very critical area, and people like me and others are very eager to try and solve it. One way we do this is to use mice with environmental conditions, such as diet-induced obesity, which is very common all over the world. Even in developing countries, urbanization means that women are more likely to get a sugary and high-fat diet than before, "said Dr. Sferruzzi-Perri.
In Britain, more than half of pregnant women have a body mass index above the normal health range. This is worrying, because maternal obesity will increase the risk of pregnancy complications, such as abortion, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and stillbirth. Abnormal birth weight can also lead to neurodevelopmental problems and immune disorders in childhood, as well as obesity, diabetes and heart disease in adulthood.
"We are now building more and more evidence to prove what to measure during pregnancy, such as her initial body mass index, her growth, her pregnant weight, and the sex of the fetus. Usually, clinicians do consider gender when viewing ultrasound images, because gender is an important determinant of fetal growth. However, we didn't really know how to determine this before. How this may interact with the mother's environment or pregnancy mode. Therefore, our research provides clinicians with more information to make more informed decisions on how to manage pregnancy.
A woman with a boy may need to adopt a different lifestyle from a pregnant woman.
At present, there are few methods to treat pregnancy complications except bed rest, dietary advice or premature delivery, because the risk of drugs passing through the placenta and affecting individual organs of the fetus is very sensitive. Scientists are now trying to find a way to design a treatment that only removes the placenta.
Dr Sferruzzi-Perri said: "these therapies will increase the function of the placenta, how it develops, and even at the mitochondrial level, how it generates energy to support fetal growth." "A lot of basic work is strengthening our strength. Placenta is the basis of healthy pregnancy results, and fetal sex is very important. However, by observing different types of genes, protein and cellular mechanisms, we may identify targets that may be similar to biomarkers and specifically target placenta to improve the prognosis of mothers and their babies.
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