First trimester placental markers in oocyte donation pregnancies.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigates the hypothesis that placenta works differently in oocyte donation (OD) compared to spontaneous pregnancies. To verify this hypothesis we examine the first trimester maternal serum levels of free ß-hCG and pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A (PAPP-A). Then we evaluated for potential differences of Down syndrome screening between OD pregnancies, in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection pregnancies with autologous oocytes (IVF/ICSI) and spontaneous pregnancies. METHODS: We analyze 13624 spontaneously conceived pregnancies (Controls), 171 oocyte donation pregnancies (OD IVF/ICSI) and 76 IVF pregnancies with autologous oocytes (Autologous IVF/ICSI). Furthermore, we collect a cohort of 802 spontaneously conceived age-matched pregnancies, in order to evaluate how older uteri contribute to explain the changes in markers concentrations (Age-matched controls We compare the multiples of the median (MoM) of free ß-hCG and PAPP-A and nuchal translucency. RESULTS: Free ß-hCG levels are significantly higher both in OD IVF/ICSI pregnancies (1.44 ± 1.06 MoM) and Autologous IVF/ICSI (1.48 ± 1.02 MoM) compared to Controls (1.15 ± 0.84 MoM; p < 0.05) and Age-matched Controls (1.18 ± 0.98 MoM; p < 0.05). PAPP-A levels do not significantly differ among the four groups. Significantly lower nuchal translucency is detected in Controls (1.41 ± 0.36 mm) compared to OD IVF/ICSI (1.46 ± 0.44 mm; p < 0.05), in Autologous IVF/ICSI (1.51 ± 0.34 mm; p < 0.05) and Age-matched Controls (1.44 ± 0.42 mm; p < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Oocyte donation pregnancies (OD IVF/ICSI) are significantly related to altered maternal serum placenta marker levels. These alterations might be due to the IVF technique.

Prevalence and type distribution of high-risk human papillomavirus infection in women undergoing voluntary cervical cancer screening in Italy.

The aim of this survey was to assess the prevalence and distribution of oncogenic human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in women who underwent screening for cervical cancer in Italy. The correlation of genotypes with the cytological results was also evaluated. Cervical samples were collected from 9,947 self-referring women for cervical cancer screening. Participants were screened by liquid-based cytology and high-risk HPV testing using the Hybrid Capture 2 test. Positive samples were genotyped by PCR. Samples (1,474; 14.8%) were positive for high-risk HPV. The prevalence was 29.4% in the 15-19 years-group, decreasing progressively to 6.1% at 50-54 years of age and increasing to 12.2% in those aged over 65 years. HPV 16 was the genotype detected most frequently followed by HPV 31, HPV 18, HPV 56, and HPV 51. HPV 16 or 18 were present in 4% of women with normal cytology and both were detected contemporarily in only 14 women. Twenty-two percent of atypical squamous cells, 26% of low-grade and 56% of high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions at cytology were positive for HPV 16 and/or 18. The prevalence of HPV infection in Italy is in agreement with that reported worldwide. HPV 16 was the prevalent genotype. The concomitant infection with HPV 16 and HPV 18 (vaccine targets) was found rarely. Apart from HPV 16 and 18, there was a substantial presence of HPV genotypes against which the vaccines available currently have shown cross-protection efficacy. The findings of this study may contribute to reliable predictions on the potential efficacy of an HPV vaccine in clinical practice.