First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns

Manning, John; Kałuża, Marek; Antoszewski, Bogusław; Kasielska-Trojan, Anna

doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106604

Journal article 44 views 11 downloads

First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns

John Manning, Marek Kałuża, Bogusław Antoszewski, Anna Kasielska-Trojan

Early Human Development, Volume: 221, Start page: 106604

Swansea University Author: John Manning

PDF | Version of Record

© 2026 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.
Download (819.12KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106604

Abstract

There is indirect evidence (from digit ratio [2D:4D] research) that prenatal oestrogen is positively related to neonate head circumference (HC), with stronger effects in males. Here we test this theory directly by considering the relationship between maternal first trimester sex steroids (oestradiol...

Full description

Published in:	Early Human Development
ISSN:	0378-3782 1872-6232
Published:	Elsevier BV 2026
Online Access:	Check full text
URI:	https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa72169

first_indexed	2026-06-26T10:21:55Z
last_indexed	2026-06-27T05:11:56Z
id	cronfa72169
recordtype	SURis
fullrecord	<?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2026-06-26T11:23:14.4339040</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>72169</id><entry>2026-06-26</entry><title>First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>d106a326bbb29a053d2b8c7f8ad9a3f8</sid><ORCID/><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Manning</surname><name>John Manning</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2026-06-26</date><abstract>There is indirect evidence (from digit ratio [2D:4D] research) that prenatal oestrogen is positively related to neonate head circumference (HC), with stronger effects in males. Here we test this theory directly by considering the relationship between maternal first trimester sex steroids (oestradiol [E] and testosterone [T]) and the HC of neonates. Measures of E and T were obtained from mother's blood at 6-8 weeks (E1, T1), and 10-11 weeks (E2, T2). Neonate HC, length, and weight were recorded together with maternal anthropometrics. There were 47 neonates (24 boys) and their mothers. Mothers with girls had higher values of E1, T1 and E2 than mothers with boys. There were no mother‑neonate sex differences for age, height, weight, BMI, and weight gain during pregnancy. Neonates showed no sex differences for HC, length or birthweight. HC was negatively related to age at pregnancy and positively related to E1. There were no other univariate correlations with HC. Multiple regression with HC as dependent variable showed a positive relationship with E1 and male sex and no effects for maternal age, T1, E2 or T2. Splitting by sex showed positive correlations between HC and male or female E1 with the former stronger than the latter. HC was positively correlated with maternal E1, independent of T1, E2, T2 and maternal anthropometrics. Splitting by sex, the relationship between HC and E1 was stronger for male neonates compared to female neonates. Our direct findings support earlier reports of positive correlations between prenatal E (which were indirectly measured by 2D:4D) and HC, and that these effects are stronger for boys than girls.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>Early Human Development</journal><volume>221</volume><journalNumber/><paginationStart>106604</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Elsevier BV</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint>0378-3782</issnPrint><issnElectronic>1872-6232</issnElectronic><keywords>Testosterone; Oestrogen; Head circumference</keywords><publishedDay>1</publishedDay><publishedMonth>10</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2026</publishedYear><publishedDate>2026-10-01</publishedDate><doi>10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106604</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Another institution paid the OA fee</apcterm><funders/><projectreference/><lastEdited>2026-06-26T11:23:14.4339040</lastEdited><Created>2026-06-26T11:18:09.9847129</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Science and Engineering</level><level id="2">School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences</level></path><authors><author><firstname>John</firstname><surname>Manning</surname><orcid/><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Marek</firstname><surname>Kałuża</surname><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Bogusław</firstname><surname>Antoszewski</surname><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Anna</firstname><surname>Kasielska-Trojan</surname><order>4</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>72169__37057__3eb74ed0b500466b8980d11bd15ef783.pdf</filename><originalFilename>72169.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2026-06-26T11:21:08.5397967</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>838778</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>© 2026 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling	2026-06-26T11:23:14.4339040 v2 72169 2026-06-26 First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns d106a326bbb29a053d2b8c7f8ad9a3f8 John Manning John Manning true false 2026-06-26 There is indirect evidence (from digit ratio [2D:4D] research) that prenatal oestrogen is positively related to neonate head circumference (HC), with stronger effects in males. Here we test this theory directly by considering the relationship between maternal first trimester sex steroids (oestradiol [E] and testosterone [T]) and the HC of neonates. Measures of E and T were obtained from mother's blood at 6-8 weeks (E1, T1), and 10-11 weeks (E2, T2). Neonate HC, length, and weight were recorded together with maternal anthropometrics. There were 47 neonates (24 boys) and their mothers. Mothers with girls had higher values of E1, T1 and E2 than mothers with boys. There were no mother‑neonate sex differences for age, height, weight, BMI, and weight gain during pregnancy. Neonates showed no sex differences for HC, length or birthweight. HC was negatively related to age at pregnancy and positively related to E1. There were no other univariate correlations with HC. Multiple regression with HC as dependent variable showed a positive relationship with E1 and male sex and no effects for maternal age, T1, E2 or T2. Splitting by sex showed positive correlations between HC and male or female E1 with the former stronger than the latter. HC was positively correlated with maternal E1, independent of T1, E2, T2 and maternal anthropometrics. Splitting by sex, the relationship between HC and E1 was stronger for male neonates compared to female neonates. Our direct findings support earlier reports of positive correlations between prenatal E (which were indirectly measured by 2D:4D) and HC, and that these effects are stronger for boys than girls. Journal Article Early Human Development 221 106604 Elsevier BV 0378-3782 1872-6232 Testosterone; Oestrogen; Head circumference 1 10 2026 2026-10-01 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106604 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-06-26T11:23:14.4339040 2026-06-26T11:18:09.9847129 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences John Manning 1 Marek Kałuża 2 Bogusław Antoszewski 3 Anna Kasielska-Trojan 4 72169__37057__3eb74ed0b500466b8980d11bd15ef783.pdf 72169.VOR.pdf 2026-06-26T11:21:08.5397967 Output 838778 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2026 The Authors. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
spellingShingle	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns John Manning
title_short	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
title_full	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
title_fullStr	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
title_full_unstemmed	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
title_sort	First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns
author_id_str_mv	d106a326bbb29a053d2b8c7f8ad9a3f8
author_id_fullname_str_mv	d106a326bbb29a053d2b8c7f8ad9a3f8_***_John Manning
author	John Manning
author2	John Manning Marek Kałuża Bogusław Antoszewski Anna Kasielska-Trojan
format	Journal article
container_title	Early Human Development
container_volume	221
container_start_page	106604
publishDate	2026
institution	Swansea University
issn	0378-3782 1872-6232
doi_str_mv	10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2026.106604
publisher	Elsevier BV
college_str	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id	facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title	Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str	School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str	1
active_str	0
description	There is indirect evidence (from digit ratio [2D:4D] research) that prenatal oestrogen is positively related to neonate head circumference (HC), with stronger effects in males. Here we test this theory directly by considering the relationship between maternal first trimester sex steroids (oestradiol [E] and testosterone [T]) and the HC of neonates. Measures of E and T were obtained from mother's blood at 6-8 weeks (E1, T1), and 10-11 weeks (E2, T2). Neonate HC, length, and weight were recorded together with maternal anthropometrics. There were 47 neonates (24 boys) and their mothers. Mothers with girls had higher values of E1, T1 and E2 than mothers with boys. There were no mother‑neonate sex differences for age, height, weight, BMI, and weight gain during pregnancy. Neonates showed no sex differences for HC, length or birthweight. HC was negatively related to age at pregnancy and positively related to E1. There were no other univariate correlations with HC. Multiple regression with HC as dependent variable showed a positive relationship with E1 and male sex and no effects for maternal age, T1, E2 or T2. Splitting by sex showed positive correlations between HC and male or female E1 with the former stronger than the latter. HC was positively correlated with maternal E1, independent of T1, E2, T2 and maternal anthropometrics. Splitting by sex, the relationship between HC and E1 was stronger for male neonates compared to female neonates. Our direct findings support earlier reports of positive correlations between prenatal E (which were indirectly measured by 2D:4D) and HC, and that these effects are stronger for boys than girls.
published_date	2026-10-01T06:26:28Z
_version_	1869307747581820928
score	11.110583

First trimester maternal sex steroids and head circumference in newborns

Similar Items