Fig. 7.

Effect of fetal sex on correlation between microRNAs and hPL in maternal serum. Correlation between maternal serum miRNA expression from male or female pregnancies measured by qPCR and hPL a hormone marker of placental dysfunction detected by ELISA for A miR-28-5p, B miR-29c-3p, C miR-301a-3p, D miR-378a-3p, E miR-409-3p, F miR-454-3p and G miR-526b-5p. Positive correlations with hPL were detected for B miR-29c-3p (r² (r = 0.467, p =  < 0.05) in males only and F miR-454-3p (r² r = 0.511, p < 0.010) in females only. Significant difference detected in intercept/elevation for F miR-454-3p (p < 0.01, linear regression). Individual data points shown (n = 17–27 males, n = 18–32 females/group), line represents the median. Spearman rank correlations