Review Article

Comparative Study on Gender Selection: Persian Medicine and Modern Medicine

Abstract

Gender selection has emerged as a controversial issue in different countries and in this respect, a wide range of studies and international symposiums have been dedicated to this subject. A comprehensive literature review was performed without restriction on publication date as well as credible Persian Medicine (PM) resources such as "Exir-e-Azam" (The Great Elixir), "Qarabadin-e-Kabir" (Great Pharmacopoeia), and "al-Qānūn fīl-tibb” (The Canon of Medicine) were completely studied. It was found that both nutritional factors such as glucose and electrolytes and non-nutritional factors including female tract, sperm, age, the timing of sexual intercourse, maternal body mass, stress, pH, estrogen, temperature, and testosterone can be used as important indicators in the gender selection. Most recommendations provided by PM for gender selection were found to be in good agreement with those reported by modern medicine.

Whittaker AM. Reproduction opportunists in the new global sex trade: PGD and non-medical sex selection. Reprod Biomed Online 2011;23:609-617.

Rashidi AA, Mohebbati R, Tara F, Ghayour Mobarhan M. The role and possible mechanism of nutritional factors on sex ratio of the fetus: A review article. Iran J Obstet Gynecol Infertil 2016;19:14-27.

Hingorani V, Shroff G. Natural sex selection for safe motherhood and as a solution for population control. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 1995;50 Suppl 2:S169-S171.

Supraja TA, Varghese M, Desai G, Chandra PS. The relationship of gender preference to anxiety, stress and family violence among pregnant women in urban India. Int J Cult Ment Health 2016;9:356-363.

Hall S, Reid E, Marteau TM. Attitudes towards sex selection for non‐medical reasons: a review. Prenat Diagn 2006;26:619-626.

Bandyopadhyay M. Sex selection: Issues and concerns. The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society 2014; pp 2101-2105.

Firman RC. Postmating sexual conflict and female control over fertilization during gamete interaction. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2018;1422:48-64.

Shettles LB. Conception and birth sex ratios: A review. Obstet Gynecol Surv 1961;16:768-774.

Helle S, Laaksonen T, Adamsson A, Paranko J, Huitu O. Female field voles with high testosterone and glucose levels produce male-biased litters. Anim Behav 2008;75:1031-1039.

Wilcox AJ, Weinberg CR, Baird DD. Timing of sexual intercourse in relation to ovulation – effects on the probability of conception, survival of the pregnancy, and sex of the baby. N Engl J Med 1995;333:1517-1521.

Wauters LA, de Crombrugghe SA, Nour N, Matthysen E. Do female roe deer in good condition produce more sons than daughters. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 1995;37:189-193.

Mathews F, Johnson PJ, Neil A. You are what your mother eats: Evidence for maternal preconception diet influencing foetal sex in humans. Proc Royal Soc B 2008;275:1661-1668.

Rosenfeld CS, Roberts RM. Maternal diet and other factors affecting offspring sex ratio: A review. Biol Reprod 2004;71:1063-1070.

Mubarik F, Noreen S, Farooq F, Attique A, Siddiqa A, et al. Effects of certain macro-minerals in off-spring gender selection: a review. Med Health Sci 2021;1:7-15.

Oun AE, Bakry S, Soltan S, Taha A, Kadry E. Preconceptional minerals administration skewed sex ratio in rat offspring. Res Obstet Gynecol 2016;4:11-15.

Ng KYB, Mingels R, Morgan H, Macklon N, Cheong Y. In vivo oxygen, temperature and pH dynamics in the female reproductive tract and their importance in human conception: A systematic review. Hum Reprod Update 2018;24:15-34.

Gorodeski GI, Hopfer U, Liu CC, Margles E. Estrogen acidifies vaginal pH by up-regulation of proton secretion via the apical membrane of vaginal-ectocervical epithelial cells. Endocrinology 2005;146:816-824.

Grant VJ, Irwin RJ. Follicular fluid steroid levels and subsequent sex of bovine embryos. J Exp Zool A Comp Exp Biol 2005;303:1120-1125.

Zhang L, Du W, Lin X, Zhang A, Chen H. Progesterone and 17β-estradiol, but not follicle stimulating hormone, alter the sex ratio of murine embryos fertilized in vitro. Theriogenology 2008;69:961-966.

Bhatia R. The development of sex-selective reproductive technologies within fertility, inc. and the anticipation of lifestyle sex selection. Selective reproduction in the 21st century. Springer. 2018; pp 45-66.

Azam Khan H. The Greatest Elixir (Exir Azam). Research Institute for Islamic and Complementary Medicine. Tehran 2009; pp 267-280.

Aghili Shirazi M. Qarabadin-e Kabir (Great Pharmacopoeia). Institute of Medical History, Islamic Medicine and Complementary Medicine, Iran Medical University. Tehran 1970.

Sharafkandi A. The Persian Translation of Qanoun Fi Al-Tibb (Or the Canon of Medicine), Vol. 2. Soroush Press. Tehran 2008.

Tonekaboni H. Tohfat al momenin (A Gift for the Faithful). Shahr Pub. Research Center of Traditional Medicine. Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Tehran 2007.

Aghili S. The Principal’s of Traditional Iranian Medicine (Kholassat-al-Hekmah). Esmaeilian. Qom 2006.

Khan A. Islamic Medicine and Complementary Medicine. Iran Medical University. Tehran 2009.

Setchell JM, Smith TE, Knapp LA. Androgens in a female primate: Relationships with reproductive status, age, dominance rank, fetal sex and secondary sexual color. Physiol Behav 2015;147:245-254.

Szenczi P, Bánszegi O, Groó Z, Altbäcker V. Anogenital distance and condition as predictors of litter sex ratio in two mouse species: a study of the house mouse (Mus musculus) and mound-building mouse (Mus spicilegus). PLoS ONE 2013;8.

Shettles LB. Nuclear morphology of human spermatozoa. Nature 1960;186:648-649.

Rahman MS, Pang M-G. New biological insights on X and Y chromosome-bearing spermatozoa. Front Cell Dev Biol 2019;7:388.

Quelhas J, Santiago J, Matos B, Rocha A, Lopes G, et al. Bovine semen sexing: sperm membrane proteomics as candidates for immunological selection of X-and Y-chromosome-bearing sperm. Vet Med Sci 2021;7:1633-1641.

Monclús R, Tiulim J, Blumstein DT. Older mothers follow conservative strategies under predator pressure: The adaptive role of maternal glucocorticoids in yellow-bellied marmots. Horm Behav 2011;60:660-665.

Monclús R, Palomares F, Tablado Z, Martínez-Fontúrbel A, Palme R. Testing the threat-sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis: Physiological responses and predator pressure in wild rabbits. Oecologia 2009;158:615-623.

Pereira Da Silva D, Martinez De Oliveira J, Negreiro F. Observational study of vaginal pH in healthy Portuguese women. Minerva Ginecol 2011;63:203-212.

Moradan S, Ghorbani R, Nasiri Z. Can vaginal pH predict menopause? Saudi Med J 2010;31:253-256.

Palacios S, González SP, Cancelo MJ. Is pH a vaginal health marker? Phemale study. Minerva Ginecol 2018;70:138-143.

Whelan EM. Human sex ratio as a function of the timing of insemination within the mestrual cycle: a review. Soc Biol 1974;21:379-384.

Weinberg CR, Baird DD, Wilcox AJ. Endocrinology: The sex of the baby may be related to the length of the follicular phase in the conception cycle. Hum Reprod 1995;10:304-307.

Arnbom T, Fedak MA, Rothery P. Offspring sex ratio in relation to female size in southern elephant seals, Mirounga leonina. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 1994;35:373-378.

Trivers RL, Willard DE. Natural selection of parental ability to vary the sex ratio of offspring. Science 1973;179:90-92.

Prentice AM, Poppitt SD, Goldberg GR, Prentice A. Adaptive strategies regulating energy balance in human pregnancy. Hum Reprod Update 1995;1:149-161.

Linklater WL. Translocation reverses birth sex ratio bias depending on its timing during gestation: Evidence for the action of two sex-allocation mechanisms. Reprod Fertil Dev 2007;19:831-839.

Schmidt CM, Hood WR. Calcium availability influences litter size and sex ratio in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). PLoS ONE 2012;7.

Chandraju S, Beirami A, Chidan Kumar CS. Effect of sodium and potassium ions in identification of baby gender in hamster. Asian J Pharm Clin Res 2012;5:134-136.

Mishell Jr DR, Nakamura RM, Crosignani PG, Stone S, Kharma K, et al. Serum gonadotropin and steroid patterns during the normal menstrual cycle. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1971;111:60-65.

Godha K, Tucker KM, Biehl C, Archer DF, Mirkin S. Human vaginal pH and microbiota: an update. Gynecol Endocrinol 2018;34:451-455.

Caillouette JC, Sharp CF, Zimmerman GJ, Roy S. Vaginal pH as a marker for bacterial pathogens and menopausal status. Am J Obstet Gynecol 1997;176:1270-1277.

Boskey ER, Telsch KM, Whaley KJ, Moench TR, Cone RA. Acid production by vaginal flora in vitro is consistent with the rate and extent of vaginal acidification. Infect Immun 1999;67:5170-5175.

Meza-Herrera CA, Ross TT, Hallford DM, Hawkins DE, Gonzalez-Bulnes A. High periconceptional protein intake modifies uterine and embryonic relationships increasing early pregnancy losses and embryo growth retardation in sheep. Reprod Domest Anim 2010;45:723-728.

Mellau LSB, Jørgensen RJ, Bartlett PC, Enemark JMD, Hansen AK. Effect of anionic salt and highly fermentable carbohydrate supplementations on urine pH and on experimentally induced hypocalcaemia in cows. Acta Vet Scand 2004;45:139-147.

Gorodeski GI. Effects of estrogen on proton secretion via the apical membrane in vaginal-ectocervical epithelial cells of postmenopausal women. Menopause 2005;12:679-684.

Shams Ardekani MR, Rahimi R, Javadi B, Abdi L, Khanavi M. Relationship between temperaments of medicinal plants and their major chemical compounds. J Tradit Chin Med 2011;31:27-31.

El-Sheikh Ali H, Kitahara G, Tamura Y, Kobayashi I, Hemmi K, et al. Presence of a temperature gradient among genital tract portions and the thermal changes within these portions over the estrous cycle in beef cows. J Reprod Dev 2013;59:59-65.

Khalifa E, Ahmed M, Abdel-Gawad A, El-Zelaky OA. The effect of insemination timing on fertilization and embryo gender in Zaraibi goats. Egypt J Sheep Goats 2010;5:271-281.

Ferguson MWJ, Joanen T. Temperature of egg incubation determines sex in Alligator mississippiensis. Nature 1982;296:850-853.

Sharma V, Thakur M, Dixit V. A comparative study of ethanolic extracts of Pedalium murex Linn. fruits and sildenafil citrate on sexual behaviors and serum testosterone level in male rats during and after treatment. J Ethnopharmacol 2012;143:201-206.

Rehman SU, Choe K, Yoo HH. Review on a traditional herbal medicine, Eurycoma longifolia Jack (Tongkat Ali): its traditional uses, chemistry, evidence-based pharmacology and toxicology. Molecules 2016;21:331.

Amano T, Imao T, Takemae K. Clinical efficacy of Japanese traditional herbal medicine (Kampo) in patients with late-onset hypogonadism. Aging Male 2010;13:166-173.

Grant VJ, Irwin RJ, Standley NT, Shelling AN, Chamley LW. Sex of bovine embryos may be related to mothers' preovulatory follicular testosterone. Biol Reprod 2008;78:812-815.

García-Herreros M, Bermejo-Álvarez P, Rizos D, Gutírrez-Adn A, Fahey AG, et al. Intrafollicular testosterone concentration and sex ratio in individually cultured bovine embryos. Reprod Fertil Dev 2010;22:533-538.

Krackow S. Potential mechanisms for sex ratio adjustment in mammals and birds. Biol Rev 1995;70:225-241.

Macaulay AD, Hamilton CK, Allan King W, Bartlewski PM. Influence of physiological concentrations of androgens on the developmental competence and sex ratio of in vitro produced bovine embryos. Reprod Biol 2013;13:41-50.

Schulman JD, Karabinus DS. Scientific aspects of preconception gender selection. Reprod Biomed Online 2005;10:111-115.

Ben-Yosef D, Amit A, Malcov M, Frumkin T, Ben-Yehudah A, et al. Female sex bias in human embryonic stem cell lines. Stem Cells Dev 2012;21:363-372.

Strange H, Cesagen. Non-medical sex selection: ethical issues. Br Med Bull 2010;94:7-20.

Ober C, Loisel DA, Gilad Y. Sex-specific genetic architecture of human disease. Nat Rev Genet 2008;9:911-922.

Gilks WP, Abbott JK, Morrow EH. Sex differences in disease genetics: evidence, evolution, and detection. Trends Genet 2014;30:453-463.

Pavic D. A review of environmental and occupational toxins in relation to sex ratio at birth. Early Hum Dev 2020;141:104873.

Sindiani AM, Zayed F, Alshdaifat EH, Rawashdeh HM, Al-Woshah W, et al. Pre-implantation gender selection: family balancing in Jordan. Risk Manag Healthc Policy 2021;14:2797.

Rai P, Ganguli A, Balachandran S, Gupta R, Neogi SB. Global sex selection techniques for family planning: a narrative review. J Reprod Infant Psychol 2018;36:548-560.

Magnusson A, Wennerholm U-B, Källén K, Petzold M, Thurin-Kjellberg A, et al. The association between the number of oocytes retrieved for IVF, perinatal outcome and obstetric complications. Hum Reprod 2018;33:1939-1947.

Files
IssueVol 8, No 2, 2023 QRcode
SectionReview Article(s)
DOI https://doi.org/10.18502/tim.v8i2.13084
Keywords
Gender selection Modern medicine Persian Medicine

Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
1.
Hosseinifakhr Q, Vahedi-Mazdabadi Y, Saeedi M, Shams Ardekani M. Comparative Study on Gender Selection: Persian Medicine and Modern Medicine. Trad Integr Med. 2023;8(2):170-179.