Not getting enough iron during pregnancy can increase the risk that babies intersex will be born, suggests a study.
Scientists have discovered for the first time that pregnant mice who are inadequate in the mineral get the chance to give birth to men with female sexual organizations.
This deficiency during pregnancy is usually caused by a lack of iron in the diet, which can of course come from eating iron-rich foods such as red meat, red beans, edamame beans, chickpeas, nuts and leaf-green vegetables.
A simple blood test can determine the iron mirrors of a woman and if she has a shortage, a supplement can be prescribed. Sometimes it is recommended to also take vitamin C, which can help the body to absorb iron more effectively.
It is already known that iron plays a role in the development of organ, and another recent study showed that babies born in mothers with low iron mirrors were more likely to have heart defects.
But the new evidence suggests that the mineral could also influence the development of sexual organs.
The recent study is the first time that a dietary mineral intersex has been shown, which takes place in one to two percent of the population, and although the team said that no research has been done to make this link among people, they believe it could play a role.
Chief researcher Vincent Harley, a molecular geneticist at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Australia, said that this is ‘an exciting new study area’.
Not getting enough iron during pregnancy can increase the risk that babies intersex will be born, suggests a study
Intersex is a condition in which individuals have sexual organs or reproductive organs that do not match the typical binary definitions of male or female.
People who are intersex can also have chromosomes that differ from the typical male and female binary file. Their genitals may not match their reproductive organs or they can have characteristics of both. This can include variations in eXternal or internal reproductive organs.
In mammals, biological sex is determined by the presence or absence of a Y chromosome -women usually have xx chromosomes, while men usually have XYs.
Subsequently, a primary gene is responsible for the formation of the corresponding sexual organs, such as testicles and penis or ovaries and vagina.
For example, mice develop testes with XY chromosomes as a gene called ‘sry’ (sex-determining region Y-gene) and ovaries if that is not the case.
The researchers behind this latest study had previously demonstrated that Sry is activated by an enzyme called ‘Histone Demethylase’, which needs iron to function.
In their new laboratory tests they looked at how iron levels would therefore influence the development of sexual organs in unborn babies.
In one of their studies, the researchers gave mice with low levels of Histon Demethylase an iron deficiency diet for a month before pregnancy and for two weeks during pregnancy, and compared with mice that received a control.
The levels of hemoglobin and red blood cells were lower with iron-deficient mice than in the control diet mice, as expected.
But two of the 43 male babies worn by iron deficiency Mothers also developed female-typical sex organs.
All control mice grew sex organs that are typical of their chromosomes.
Other tests, which are further grooving in the impact of iron, revealed similar results.
Iron deficiency During pregnancy is usually caused by a lack of iron in the diet
In one study, four mice with XY (typical male) chromosomes were born with two ovaries and one with one ovary and one testis.
It can be stated that when iron levels are low, the enzyme ‘histone demethylase’ may not activate the sry -gene, which is responsible for the development of male sexual organs and reproductive organs.
That is why mice with XY chromosomes can develop female – or both species – organs.
Up to evidence suggests that mothers diet and exposure to environmental oxins can influence the gene activity involved in the early development of testes and ovaries.
The latest findings can have consequences for medical advice about iron intake during pregnancy, Harley adds.
A separate study that investigated the connection between iron and organ development, B thought BAbies, born of mothers with low iron mirrors, have much more chance of heart defects.
Scientists now put anemia – low levels of red blood cells due to low iron mirrors – in pregnant women can be faulted by about one in 20 congenital heart disease (CHD).
The fatal condition is one of the most common types of birth defects.
The study, by the British Heart Foundation, analyzed the data of 16,500 mothers and found the chances of having a child with CHD 47 percent larger in women with low iron levels in their first 100 days of pregnancy.
Experts will now investigate whether taking iron supplements before and during pregnancy can help prevent heart defects.
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