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. 2024 May 18;10(10):e31566.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31566. eCollection 2024 May 30.

Maternal hepatitis B status and Sex at birth: A cross-sectional study in a Ghanaian population

Moses Banyeh  1 , Moses Kofi Woli  2 , Benjamin N Mayeem  3 , Augusta S Kolekang  4 , Ruth Nimota Nukpezah  5 , Nadia Habib  1 , Emmanuel Ansah Owusu  1 , Muniru Mohammed Tanko  1 , Clement Binwatin Dagungong  1
Affiliations

Maternal hepatitis B status and Sex at birth: A cross-sectional study in a Ghanaian population

Moses Banyeh et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Maternal carrier status of hepatitis B has been associated with excess sons while maternal immunity to it has been associated with excess daughters at birth. However, the proportion of males at birth (sex ratio) is relatively low in Sub-Saharan Africa despite the relatively high prevalence of hepatitis B. However, no known study has tested this hypothesis in the Ghanaian population; hence the aim of the study. The study was cross-sectional between January and September 2023 at the Tamale Central Maternal and Child Health unit. The study involved 380 mothers of whom mothers with daughters (MD) were 145 (38.2 %) while the rest were mothers with sons (MS). The mothers were aged between 18 and 43 years and were sampled within one week of delivery to singleton births. Maternal venous blood samples were collected and tested for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), surface antibody (HBsAb), envelop antigen (HBeAg) envelope antibody (HBeAb) and core antibody (HBcAb) using immunochromatographic technique and total testosterone (TT), using ELISA. There was no significant difference in the serum total testosterone level between MD and MS (0.32 ± 0.13 vs 0.32 ± 0.27, P = 0.991). Moreover, while the mothers were seropositive for HBsAg (10.5 %), HBsAb (35.5 %), HBeAg (0.0 %), HBeAb (5.3 %) and HBcAb (11.8 %), there was no significant association between sex at birth and maternal hepatitis B status for HBsAg (ꭓ2: 0.531, P = 0.472), HBsAb (ꭓ2: 2.655, P = 0.140), HBeAb (ꭓ2: 0.251, P = 0.633) and HBcAb (ꭓ2: 0.101, P = 1.000). Maternal hepatitis B status may not be associated with the offspring sex at birth in the studied population from Ghana.

Keywords: Ghana; Hepatitis B; Maternal; Prevalence; Sex ratio; Testosterone.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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