Differences in maternal and neonatal cardiometabolic markers and placenta status by foetal sex. The GESTAFIT project Aparicio García-Molina, Virginia Baena García, Laura De la Flor Alemany, Marta Martínez González, Luis Javier Varela López, Alfonso Sánchez González, Cristina Quiles Morales, José Luis Fibroblast Growth Factor Lipids Newborn Pregnancy Telomere Triglycerides Aims: To explore the differences in some maternal-neonatal metabolic markers and placenta status by foetal sex. Methods: One hundred thirty-nine Caucasian pregnant women from the GESTAFIT project and their new-borns were included in the present cross-sectional study. Serum cardiometabolic markers (i.e. lipid and glycaemic profile and uric acid) were analysed at late pregnancy and at birth. In placenta, telomeres length, proportion of deleted mitochondrial-DNA and mitochondrial-DNA density, some minerals and interleukin 8, epidermal growth factor, fibroblast growth factor-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor were measured. The study was run between November 2015 and April 2018. Results: Mothers carrying a male showed higher serum triglycerides than mothers carrying a female at late pregnancy (p < .05). Serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were greater in males’ umbilical cord blood artery compared to females’ new-borns (both, p < .05). Mothers of males and male new-borns presented higher uric acid than mothers of females and female new-borns at birth (p < .05). Female’s placentas presented greater placental-newborn weight ratio, manganese content and fibroblast growth factor-2 (all, p ⩽ .05), and evidence of statistical significance in telomeres length, which were 17% longer (p = .076). Conclusion: Our findings show weak differences in some cardiometabolic and placental status markers by foetal sex. Notwithstanding, we observed a slightly more proatherogenic profile in both, mothers carrying males’ foetuses and male new-borns. We also found lower serum uric acid and better placenta status in mothers carrying a female. These findings indicate that foetal sex might need to be considered for a more personalized follow-up of pregnancies. 2022-09-23T07:48:13Z 2022-09-23T07:48:13Z 2022-08-20 journal article Aparicio VA... [et al.]. Differences in maternal and neonatal cardiometabolic markers and placenta status by foetal sex. The GESTAFIT project. Women’s Health. 2022;18. doi:[10.1177/17455057221117976] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/76891 10.1177/17455057221117976 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ open access Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional SAGE