Xie Qian, Li Ruoqing, Wan Qin, Tong Nanwei
Department of Gerontology, the people's hospital of LeShan, Leshan, China.
Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
PeerJ. 2025 Apr 28;13:e19380. doi: 10.7717/peerj.19380. eCollection 2025.
This study aimed to investigate whether fetal sex influences the risk of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in women in China.
A cohort of 3,758 Chinese women, each having given birth to only one child and aged 40 years or older, was included in the study. Registry data on all pregnancies and miscarriages were collected for each participant. This retrospective cohort study aimed to determine whether fetal sex was associated with metabolic syndrome. MetS was defined as meeting at least three of the following five criteria: impaired insulin metabolism, reduced glucose tolerance, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and large waist circumference.
Among the 3,758 women aged 40 years and older in Luzhou City, 1,018 (27.1%) developed MetS. Mothers who had carried a male fetus had higher triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) levels and a greater prevalence of diabetes than those who had carried a female fetus ( < 0.05). Although the incidence of MetS was higher in women who had carried a male fetus than in those who had carried a female fetus, the difference was not statistically significant ( > 0.05). Notably, MetS was significantly less prevalent in premenopausal women than in postmenopausal women, irrespective of fetal sex ( < 0.05). In the postmenopausal subgroup, the incidence of MetS was significantly higher in women who had carried a male fetus compared to those who had carried a female fetus ( < 0.05).
Our study found no significant association between fetal sex and MetS in Chinese women aged 40 years and older. However, among postmenopausal women, the incidence of MetS was significantly higher in those who had carried a male fetus. Greater attention should be given to postmenopausal women with a history of carrying a male fetus, and early preventive measures should be implemented to reduce the risk of related chronic diseases.
本研究旨在调查胎儿性别是否会影响中国女性患代谢综合征（MetS）的风险。
本研究纳入了3758名中国女性，她们均只生育过一个孩子且年龄在40岁及以上。收集了每位参与者所有妊娠和流产的登记数据。这项回顾性队列研究旨在确定胎儿性别与代谢综合征是否有关联。代谢综合征的定义为符合以下五项标准中的至少三项：胰岛素代谢受损、葡萄糖耐量降低、高血压、血脂异常和腰围增大。
在泸州市3758名40岁及以上的女性中，1018名（27.1%）患了代谢综合征。生育男胎的母亲甘油三酯（TG）和总胆固醇（TC）水平较高，糖尿病患病率也高于生育女胎的母亲（P<0.05）。虽然生育男胎的女性患代谢综合征的发生率高于生育女胎的女性，但差异无统计学意义（P>0.05）。值得注意的是，无论胎儿性别如何，绝经前女性代谢综合征的患病率均显著低于绝经后女性（P<0.05）。在绝经后亚组中，生育男胎的女性患代谢综合征的发生率显著高于生育女胎的女性（P<0.05）。
我们的研究发现，40岁及以上中国女性的胎儿性别与代谢综合征之间无显著关联。然而，在绝经后女性中，生育男胎的女性患代谢综合征的发生率显著更高。应更加关注有生育男胎史的绝经后女性，并采取早期预防措施以降低相关慢性病的风险。
