Effect of fetal sex on the angiogenic factor-cytokine system in women during the second and third trimesters of physiological and complicated pregnancy
Subject and methods. Three hundred and ninety women with physiological pregnancy (Group 1), including 203 women with male fetuses and 187 with female fetuses, and 345 women with placental insufficiency and fetal growth retardation (Group 2), including 176 women with male fetuses and 169 pregnant women with female fetuses, were examined. Enzyme immunoassay was used to determine the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A), epidermal growth factor (EGF), placental growth factor (PGF), endothelin-1 (ET-1), tumor necrosis factor-а (TNF-а), and interleukins (IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12) in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Results. Significant differences in the indicators under study were found in the pregnant women of both groups in relation to gestational age and fetal sex. There were significant dissimilarities in the levels of the growth factors, ET-1, and cytokines in terms of fetal sex, which suggested that there were systemic features and anatomic and functional heterochrony of the uterine-placental-fetal unit. Conclusion. During physiological and complicated pregnancy, each trimester was characterized by a certain ratio of absolute VEGF-A, EGF, PGF, ET-1, TNF-а, IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and IL-12 levels in relation to fetal sex. Higher levels of angiogenic factors (VEGF-A, EGF, PGF, and ET-1) and cytokines (TNF-а, (IL-1, IL-10, and IL-12) were recorded in the pregnant women with female sex in the second and third trimesters of both physiological and uncomplicated pregnancy.