The immunity of pregnant women can be affected by the gender of the baby, say scientists. They found that women carrying female foetuses showed a heightened inflammatory response.
Researchers from The Ohio State University in the U.S. followed 80 pregnant women through the course of their pregnancy to find out if they exhibited different levels of immune markers called cytokines based on the gender of the foetus.
Analyses were conducted on the level of cytokines in the blood and levels produced by a sample of immune cells that were exposed to bacteria in the lab.
“While women didn’t exhibit differences in blood cytokine levels based on foetal sex, we did find that the immune cells of women carrying female foetuses produced more pro-inflammatory cytokines when exposed to bacteria,” said Amanda Mitchell, a postdoctoral researcher. “This means that women carrying female foetuses exhibited a heightened inflammatory response when their immune system was challenged,” said Ms. Mitchell.
Inflammation is a critical part of the immune response involved in wound healing and responses to viruses, bacteria and chronic illnesses. However, excessive inflammation is stressful to the body.
The heightened inflammation observed among women carrying female foetuses could play a role in why mothers-to-be tend to experience exacerbated symptoms of some medical conditions, including asthma, when carrying a female foetus.
The study was published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity . — PTI
