Lee Gain, Andrade Gisela Martinez, Kim Young Ju, Anumba Dilly O C
Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Republic of Korea.
Division of Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine & Population Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Sheffield, Jessop Wing, Tree Root Walk, Sheffield S10 2SF, UK.
Cells. 2025 Jul 16;14(14):1084. doi: 10.3390/cells14141084.
Preterm birth (PTB) refers to a labor before 37 gestational weeks. This is a major global contributor to neonatal morbidity and mortality. Although fetal sex is frequently treated as a confounding variable in PTB research, relatively few studies have conducted sex-stratified analyses to investigate how male and female fetuses may respond differently to various intrauterine exposures. This represents an underexplored area with important implications for understanding fetal sexual dimorphism-specific vulnerability to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Understanding the role of fetal sex differences in the pathophysiology of preterm birth (PTB) regarding processes such as inflammation, placental dysfunction, and oxidative stress is crucial. These delicate processes are tightly interrelated, but also independently contribute to pregnancy complications. Recognizing fetal sex as a biological variable for such processes is essential for improving mechanistic insight, providing refined predictive models.
早产（PTB）是指妊娠37周前分娩。这是全球新生儿发病和死亡的主要原因。尽管在早产研究中，胎儿性别常被视为一个混杂变量，但相对较少的研究进行过性别分层分析，以探究男性和女性胎儿对各种宫内暴露的反应可能有何不同。这是一个尚未充分探索的领域，对理解胎儿性别特异性易患不良妊娠结局具有重要意义。了解胎儿性别差异在早产（PTB）病理生理学中在炎症、胎盘功能障碍和氧化应激等过程中的作用至关重要。这些微妙的过程紧密相关，但也独立地导致妊娠并发症。将胎儿性别视为这些过程的生物学变量对于提高机制洞察力、提供精确的预测模型至关重要。
