Sex of Fetus Affects Immune Response to COVID-19 During Pregnancy

Male placentas produce more proinflammatory molecules than female placentas, while people carrying male fetuses produce fewer antibodies in response to infection, a study finds.

Written byAmanda Heidt

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Pregnant people respond to COVID-19 differently depending on the sex of their unborn child, according to a study released yesterday (October 19) in Science Translational Medicine. Male placentas produced more proinflammatory genes and proteins than female placentas after the parent contracted COVID-19, and people gestating sons produced fewer antibodies following infection. They also passed fewer protective antibodies on to the fetus.

“What’s interesting about that is it means that the sex of the baby can dictate how the mother responds to a viral infection,” Akiko Iwasaki, a virologist and immunologist at Yale University who was not involved in the study, tells STAT. “We knew that maternal infection can significantly impact the fetus, but this means that there is cross-talk between the fetus and the mother. That’s exciting because it adds an extra layer to what we are used to thinking about.”

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Meet the Author

Amanda Heidt
Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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