Fetal aneuploidies are among the most common causes of miscarriages, perinatal mortality and neurodevelopmental impairment. During the last 70 years, many efforts have been made in order to improve prenatal diagnosis and prenatal screening of these conditions. Recently, the use of cell-free fetal DNA (cff-DNA) testing has been increasingly used in different countries, representing an opportunity for non-invasive prenatal screening of pregnant women. The aim of this narrative review is to describe the state of the art and the main strengths and limitations of this test for prenatal screening of fetal aneuploidies.

Histological chorioamnionitis is associated with significant adverse maternal, perinatal and long-term outcome. We performed a meta-analysis of 30 observational studies in order to clarify the association between Histological chorioamnionitis and pulmonary complications, like respiratory distress syndrome and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. Unadjusted data extracted from all studies showed that Histological chorioamnionitis has no effect on development of RDS (RR 0.93, 95% CI 1.08–1.67), while it increased the risk of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (RR 1.75, 95% CI 1.37–2.23). However, when we restricted the analysis to the studies that adjust for Gestational Age, in order to exclude the influence of prematurity, we found that HCA reduced the risk of respiratory distress syndrome (RR 0.57, CI 95% 0.35–0.93) and it did not affect the development of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (RR 0.99, CI 0.76–1.3). Our results confirmed a possible role of prenatal inflammation on lung maturation. However, further prospective studies with a selected population are needed, in order to clarify the role of Histological chorioamnionitis in neonatal pulmonary complications.

Background: A suboptimal maternal vaccination coverage in 2017–18 has been reported in Italy. The study aims were to (i) assess changes in maternal influenza and tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis vaccination coverage during 2018–19 influenza season compared to the previous season (ii) estimate influenza vaccine coverage among maternal care providers (MCPs) and (iii) explore the characteristics of vaccine delivery to pregnant women. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among pregnant women and MCPs about influenza and pertussis immunization during pregnancy. We also collected information regarding prenatal care characteristics and vaccine delivery among four centers in Italy. Results: We recruited 483 pregnant women and 452 MCPs. The influenza and pertussis vaccine uptake among pregnant women for the season 2018–19 was 14.9% and 60.9%, respectively. MCPs’ influenza vaccine uptake was 33.6%. Knowing that the flu vaccine was safe for mothers and their infants and being vaccinated in the previous influenza season were associated with higher vaccine uptake. Regarding pertussis, being a housewife was associated to lower vaccine uptake, while knowing the vaccine is effective and safe for mothers and newborns were associated with higher pertussis vaccine uptake. The single most important factor associated to higher coverage of both influenza and pertussis vaccines was receiving a health-care provider’s vaccine advice. Most pregnant women (69.4%) stated that they preferred to be vaccinated in their same prenatal care setting. Conclusions: Receiving a health-care provider’s vaccine advice and the availability of vaccines during prenatal care visits might improve vaccination coverage among pregnant women.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a highly variable syndrome and one of the most common female endocrine disorders. Although the association inositols-glucomannan may represent a good therapeutic strategy in the treatment of PCOS women with insulin resistance, the effect of inositols on the metabolomic profile of these women has not been described yet. Fifteen PCOS-patients and 15 controls were enrolled. Patients were treated with myo-inositol (1.75 g/day), D-chiro-inositol (0.25 g/day) and glucomannan (4 g/day) for 3 months. Blood concentrations of glucose, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol, and ovary volumes and antral follicles count, as well as metabolomic profiles, were evaluated for control subjects and for cases before and after treatment. PCOS-patients had higher BMI compared with Controls, BMI decreased significantly after 3 months of treatment although it remained significantly higher compared to controls. 3-methyl-1-hydroxybutyl-thiamine-diphosphate, valine, phenylalanine, ketoisocapric, linoleic, lactic, glyceric, citric and palmitic acid, glucose, glutamine, creatinine, arginine, choline and tocopherol emerged as the most relevant metabolites for distinguishing cases from controls. Our pilot study has identified a complex network of serum molecules that appear to be correlated with PCOS, and with a combined treatment with inositols and glucomannan. ClinicalTial.gov, NCT03608813 . Registered 1st August 2018 - Retrospectively registered, .