LA Zonta's research while affiliated with University of Pavia and other places

Population of Sardinia Island is characterized by geographical and historical isolation, a deep-rooted tendency to postpone childbearing, and a demographic and genetic structure largely different from that of continental Italy and other European countries. Based on such differences we investigated whether the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome associated with late reproduction was different between the Sardinian population and two mainland areas (North+Centre and South+Sicily), representative of different Italian socio-economic contexts. In particular we suggest that parents, who show aptitude to late childbearing associated with a reduced risk of adverse pregnancy outcome, enjoy "reproductive longevity". Data set come from the National Institute of Statistics and concern all 1990-98 Italian birth records (n=4 830 742). We considered three types of adverse pregnancy outcome: i) stillbirths of the total births, ii) very preterm births (<32 gestation weeks) of the live births, iii) very low birthweight births (<1.5 Kg) of the live births after exclusion of very preterm births. Using logistic regression models we investigated whether the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome associated with maternal or paternal ageing followed differing trends between areas. Moreover we evaluated the Odds Ratio of the three types of adverse outcome as a function of maternal and paternal age and education, and delivery rank. We found that in the three areas the risks increase with parental ageing, but in Sardinia the increase is less rapid than in the mainland. In particular with respect to South+Sicily, in Sardinian mothers=35 years and fathers=40 years the OR is 25% lower for stillbirth and preterm birth, and 19% lower for low birthweight. We suggest that the aptitude to late and successful childbearing may be a peculiar trait of the Sardinian population, indicative of "reproductive longevity". The possibility of identifying populations where a relevant proportion of mothers show the character might promote case-control studies focused on the possible determinants and measures of prevention and/or protection against the adverse effect of late reproduction.

The increasing incidence of moderate preterm births (32-36 gestation weeks) might reflect a more general tendency toward a shortening of the gestational length occurring also in the term births (37 + gestation weeks). We examined all Italian 1st live born singletons (n = 2,356,365) and found that from 1990 to 1998 the births of 40 + gestation weeks decreased from 60.7 to 51.7% and among term births the average gestation weeks decreased from 39.74 to 39.55. In term pregnancies the effect of low education and advanced age of the mother in decreasing the gestational length persisted over time, but, independently of the maternal factors, the pregnancies experienced a progressive shortening. The finding, if confirmed for other countries, should deserve further investigations on possible determinants, as improved estimates of gestational age through the widespread use of prenatal ultrasound or diffusion of hazardous and stressing working and living conditions.

The purpose of this study was to determine the conservation status of a Salix herbacea L. population, located in the N-Apennines (Italy), toward the southern edge of the species’ distribution. A 3year-long study (1999–2001) was conducted to evaluate the effects of human trampling on Salix herbacea. Two stands, one trampled and one untrampled in the same site, were compared. The measured variables included: total vegetation cover; cover and female catkin number of Salix herbacea. The trampled stand showed a decrease in both Salix cover and sexual reproduction. We suggest possible conservation strategies to preserve the Salix herbacea trampled stand from its local extinction.

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Advanced paternal age has been reported to impair pregnancy outcome. Here, we investigated the association of advanced paternal age with preterm birth by using a very large national data set. We analyzed data from 1990 to 1998 on Italian firstborn singletons to mothers 20-24 and 25-29 years of age (n = 1,510,823). Odds ratios for overall preterm (<37 weeks' gestation), very preterm (<32 weeks), and moderate preterm (32-36 weeks) births were evaluated through logistic regression models in paternal age classes (20-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50+ years) after adjustment for confounders. Nonparametric regression models were used to fit the effect of paternal ageing on the incidence of very preterm births. Odds ratios increased with paternal age more rapidly for very preterm than for moderate preterm births; among 45- to 49-year-old fathers, odds ratios for very preterm births reached 1.91 (95% confidence interval = 1.08-3.38) and 1.72 (1.25-2.36), respectively, in 20- to 24- and 25- to 29-year-old mothers. This study confirms that paternal age contributes to the risk of preterm birth. The effect is stronger on very preterm births but also influences moderate preterm births.

Nella seconda metà del secolo scorso, in Italia si è avuto un drastico miglioramento delle cure prenatali e ostetriche. Contemporaneamente, l'aumento del livello di scolarizzazione e dell'occupazione femminile ha contribuito alla tendenza a rimandare la formazione della famiglia. Poiché il rischio per la salute della madre e del feto aumenta con l'avanzare dell'età materna, abbiamo comparato l'evoluzione della relazione tra natimortalità e età della madre nei nati singoli e nei gemelli, per il periodo 1950-96. Con dati recenti (1990-96) abbiamo dimostrato che, rispetto alle primipare giovani, il rischio sia di natimortalità sia di nascita pretermine aumenta oltre che con l'età materna anche con quella paterna. Buone condizioni socio-economiche familiari concorrono invece al successo della gravidanza. In Italy, during the second half of the last century, prenatal and obstetric care improved drastically, as also confirmed by the decrease in stillbirth rate. At the same time, the progressive increase in the number of educated and working women has contributed to the tendency to delay parenthood. We first studied and compared the evolution of the relationship between the mother's age and stillbirth rates in singletons and in twin births. The analysis covered the period 1950-96. Secondly, we analysed two types of adverse pregnancy outcomes, i.e. stillbirth and very preterm birth, in 1990-96 primiparae. We showed that a higher risk is associated not only with older mothers in comparison to younger ones, but that also a more advanced age of the fathers increases the risk. As expected, favourable socio-economic conditions of the family play a relevant role in determining a successful pregnancy. Durant la deuxième moitié du siècle dernier, on a assisté en Italie à une sévère amélioration des soins prénatals et obstétricaux. Simultanément, le niveau de la scolarisation et celui de l'emploi des femmes sont élevés, ce qui a contribué à différer les temps de la formation de la famille. Comme le risque pour la santé de la mère et du fœtus augmente plus l'âge de la mère est avancé, nous avons comparé le rapport entre la mortinatalité et l'âge de la mère dans le cas de naissances uniques et dans le cas de naissances de jumeaux à partir de 1950 jusqu'en 1996. En utilisant des chiffres récents (1990-1996), nous avons démontré que par rapport aux jeunes primipares, le risque, aussi bien de mortinatalité que celui d'une naissance avant terme, augmente encore plus en fonction de l'âge de la mère ainsi que celle du père. Les bonnes conditions socio-économiques d'une famille contribuent au succès de la grossesse.

The role of parental ageing on the incidence of adverse pregnancy outcome is based on increased morbidity and obstetric problems during pregnancy and delivery in old mothers, and on the accumulation of spontaneous harmful mutations for continuous cell divisions during spermatogenesis in old fathers. The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of paternal and maternal ageing on the risk of adverse pregnancy outcome. From the group of 3,616,622 Italian singletons born in 1990-1996 we estimated the risks of stillbirth, preterm birth (<37 weeks of gestation) in live births, and low birth-weight (< 2.3 Kg) in live full-term births. The risks were estimated as a function of maternal and paternal ageing through logistic regression models, which included, as covariates, parity (1st, 2nd, > or =3rd) and family education (low, < or =8 years of schooling for both parents; high, >8 years for at least one parent). Parental ages were examined as quantitative (in one year classes) or categorical factors (in three classes: fathers 20-29, 30-39, > or =40; mothers 20-29, 30-34, > or =35). We found that, compared with 20-29-year old parents, mothers > or =30 years and fathers > or =40 years are at risk of adverse pregnancy outcome. The effects are more relevant for preterm births and greater in the least than in the most favourable birth conditions, i.e., in first-born children of less educated families than in second-born children of highly educated families. For the risk of a preterm delivery, the odds ratio is OR = 1.32 [1.28-1.36] in mothers aged 30-34 years, and OR=1.97 [1.88-2.07] in mothers 235 years in the least favourable conditions, and OR = 1.14 [1.10-1.18] and OR = 1.56 [1.22-1.27] respectively, in the most favourable conditions. The impact of paternal ageing is smaller but significant in fathers > or =40 years: for the risk of a preterm birth, the odds ratio is OR = 1.40 [1.33-1.47] in the least favourable conditions, and OR = 1.14 [1.08-1.21] in the most favourable conditions. This last, baseline risk might be indicative of a paternal genetic component associated with childbearing in advanced age.

The role of paternal ageing on the incidence of some genetic diseases in offspring depends on the hypothesis that spontaneous mutations accumulate due to continuous cell divisions during spermatogenesis. We examined the effect of paternal age on the complex multifactorial character, stillbirth. In 3,619,647 Italian singletons born in 1990-1996 we evaluated stillbirth risk as a function of paternal ageing by means of multiple logistic regression models, which included maternal age and family education, as categorical covariates and interactions. The categorical risk was estimated for mothers and fathers beyond threshold ages of 35 and 40 years, respectively. Stillbirth risk increases with paternal ageing in mothers > or =30 years old, and maternal age and family education modify the impact. In families with low education, the risk accounts for odds ratio (OR) 1.015 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.02] in mothers aged 30-34 years, and for OR 1.032 (95% CI 1.02-1.04) in mothers aged > or =35 years; in families with higher education the risk accounts for OR 1.008 (95% CI 1.00-1.02) and OR 1.025 (95% CI 1.01-1.04), respectively, in mothers aged 30-34 and > or =35 years. In these latter families, for mothers aged <35 and fathers > or =40 years the risk accounts for OR 1.12 (95% CI 1.00-1.25). The effect of paternal ageing on stillbirth risk is revealed in mothers aged > or =30 years and is modified by family education. In mothers aged 30-34 years from families with high education, the increase imputable to paternal ageing might be indicative of a genetic component.

To provide a statistically sound criterion for identifying implausibly large birthweights for gestational age. Review of ISTAT 1990-1994 national newborn records. Italy Forty-two thousand and twenty-nine single first and second liveborn preterm babies. Two-component Gaussian mixture models are used to describe the birthweight distributions stratified by gestational age. Implausibly large babies are identified through model-based probabilistic clustering. Gestational age misclassification and weight-for-gestational age centile curves Gestational age appears under-estimated by about six weeks in 12.3% of the cases. Large babies are equally present in males and females, but are more frequent in second-borns than in first-borns, even when parity-specific models are fitted. The approach allows for a quantification of the gestational age under-estimate error and for data correction through model-based clustering. Correct birthweight distributions and growth curves are also provided.