Projects / Programmes
Metabolic and hereditary factors of reproductive health-Labour II
January 1, 2014
- December 31, 2019
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 3.05.00 |
Medical sciences |
Human reproduction |
|
| 3.07.00 |
Medical sciences |
Metabolic and hormonal disorders |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| B000 |
Biomedical sciences |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 3.02 |
Medical and Health Sciences |
Clinical medicine |
Researchers (38)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
The research program will consist of four work packages (WP).
Obectives
WP1 Premature Labour (2 sub-packages)
WP1.1 Prevention of premature birth by progesterone
The objective of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of vaginal micronized progesterone in prolonging pregnancy after an episode of preterm labour, which responded to tocolytic treatment.
WP1.2 Electrophysiology of delivery
According to our previous studies electromyograms of uterus will be studied to differentiate between deliveries at estimated date and pre-term deliveries (frequency spectrum, peaks in the power spectra, regularity).
WP2 Antenatal Health Care (2 sub-packages)
WP2.1 Oxidative stress in pregnancy
The objective of the study is to determine the extent of oxidative stress and antioxidant defence systems in normal pregnancy and in pregnancies with various complications.
WP2.2 Arterial stiffness, biochemical and ultrasound markers for complications in pregnancy
The objectives of the study are to determine the association between sFlt1/PGF and the gravity of pre-eclampsia and to identify the relationship between the change in the augmentation index and the measurement of arterial stiffness at the beginning of pregnancy and delayed onset of PE.
WP3 Psychological and Social Aspects of Childbirth (2 sub-packages)
WP3.1 Psychological risks associated with multiple births
The objective of study is to determine if increased psychological risks during pregnancy and 3 months after the delivery are associated with multiple births (spontaneous and ART pregnancies).
WP3.2 Individual and contextual psychosocial protection and risk factors of female mental health in pregnancy and after the birth
The objective is the study of the relationship between individual biopsychosocial factors and relational factors to the levels of anxiety, depression and to various personality characteristics of self and views of oneself in women in the last trimester of pregnancy.
WP4 Neonatology and child neurology (4 sub-packages)
WP4.1 Postneonatal epilepsy
The objectives of the study are long-term follow up of neonates with convulsions and assessment of handicap, correlation between neonatal convulsions and later postneonatal epilepsy and the use of GMFCS and BFMF assessments in the context of neonatal convulsions and later postneonatal epilepsy and cerebral palsy.
WP4.2 Development of children with strong biochemical markers of mercury/heavy metal poisoning in the neonatal period
The cord blood for concentration of mercury and other heavy metals were evaluated in newborns. The objective is the comparison of the biochemical markers collected from the newborn’s umbilical cord blood and their cognitive function upon entering the school.
WP4.3 Long-term follow-up of adults after hypoxic-ishemic encephalopathy in the neonatal period
The objective of the study is the long-term tracking of children after hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in the neonatal period. The association between the outcome of different neuropsychological tests and neuroimaging changes (mainly of brain volume) will be investigated.
WP4.4 Early detection of sleep disorders and the connection to congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS)
The objective of the study is to assess the Slovenian population of children with CCHS and to evaluate their neurophysiological results.
Relevance
The project will be conducted by an international, interdisciplinary team including partners from University Medical Center Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science University of Ljubljana, Institute of Public Health, research group of DG Sanco project, School of Medicine University of Zagreb (Croatia), Maternity Hospital Dublin (Ireland), St.Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix (USA), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge (USA).
The interdisciplinary approach, modern knowledge and new methodologies shall improve the quality of perinatal care in Slovenia. Proposed a
Significance for science
The project will be conducted by an international, interdisciplinary team including partners from University Medical Center Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science University of Ljubljana, Institute of Public Health of Republic of Slovenia, research group of DG Sanco project, School of Medicine University of Zagreb (Croatia), Maternity Hospital Dublin (Ireland), St.Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix (USA), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (ZDA).
WP1 Premature Labour
WP1.1 Prevention of premature birth by progesterone
Premature birth remains one of the important unsolved problems in perinatology. Adding progesterone may reduce the risk of premature birth in certain pregnant women. Our research aims to discover whether progesterone inhibits primary myometrium contractions or slows down the process of cervical ripening.
WP1.2 Electrophysiology of delivery
The results of the proposed studies, an updated TPEHG DB database, and a new database should result in: 1) new criteria and standards in the field of automatic analysis of EHG records regarding the length of the records (30 min) and methodology of the processing; 2) a semi-automatic interactive analysis during early week of recording (23rd week); 3) possible comparability of the procedures for derivation of the estimators; 4) comparability of statistical results of classification of the records; 5) in better non-invasive prediction of pre-term delivery.
WP2 Antenatal Health Care
WP2.1 Oxidative stress in pregnancy
The obtained scientific results would contribute to the development of basic knowledge in the field of oxidative stress in pregnancy. The research findings would give us an important insight into the role and expression of oxidative stress in the second trimester of pregnancy and at labour.
WP2.2 arterial stiffness, biochemical and ultrasound markers for complications in pregnancy
Early detection of pre-eclampsia would allow for an early application of preventive measures and treatment of placental insufficiency that can lead to pre-eclampsia and foetal growth delay, which are one of the most important factors of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
WP3 Psychological and Social Aspects of Childbirth
WP3.1 Psychological risks associated with multiple births
There is a growing number of multiple pregnancies in Slovenia due to fertility treatment with IVF, thereby increasing the number of families with twins that may not receive adequate attention. The study would result in new scientific findings on the possible special needs that women, pregnant with multiples in Slovenia, may require.
WP3.2 Individual and contextual psychosocial protection and risk factors of female mental health in pregnancy and after the birth
So far we have no empirical data on the spectrum of stress-related mental health disorders during pregnancy and their predictive value for the subsequent relationship between the mother and child there is also very little data on the impact that the context of interpersonal relationships has on women’s perception in the peri- and postnatal period. The objective of the study is to analyze the relationship between the factors of mental difficulties of the participants and important somatic variables. This is also the contributing factor the research has on the epigenetic phenomenon of the child’s early development.
WP4 Neonatology and child neurology
We will try to find new insights into the connection between brain volume reduction and abnormalities of neuropsychological tests in young adults persons who have had suffered from mild brain hypoxia at birth.
We will show the impact of mercury on later development of children whose mothers have had reasonable consumption of fish and sea-food and therefore also raised levels of mercury, and will try to define the role of PUFAs in the mothers’ diet.
We will produce an algorithm of neurophysiological investigations in CCHS (central congenital hypov
Significance for the country
WP1 Premature Labour
WP1.1 Prevention of premature birth by progesterone
There are 6-7% of premature labours in Slovenia that contribute to 60% of perinatal mortality and morbidity. The frequency of premature labour has not changed significantly in the last decades. Treatment with progesterone could prevent preterm delivery in pregnant women with signs and symptoms that point to it. We could offer treatment with progesterone to this group of pregnant women in addition to tocoytics and the therapy for foetal maturation. Moreover, we could reduce the high costs associated with the prematurely born and reduce the risks for neonatal mortality and morbidity.
WP1.2 Electrophysiology of delivery
Updated TPEHG DB database and a new, opened and freely accessible public database, can bring many citations to the research group and as such group’s international recognition.
We will continuation the successful collaboration with elite American university Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, which may lead to new joint projects and publications.
WP2 Antenatal Health Care
WP2.1 Oxidative stress in pregnancy
The research would have an important socio-economic contribution in the case of a good correlation between the markers of maternal and foetal environment oxidative stress. The study could have a practical value; it could establish the non-invasive procedure for monitoring oxidative status in pregnancy and lay the ground for further research predicting pregnancy complications associated with it.
WP2.2 Arterial stiffness, biochemical and ultrasound markers for complications in pregnancy
Early detection of pre-eclampsia would allow for an early application of preventive measures and treatment of placental insufficiency that can lead to pre-eclampsia and foetal growth delay, which are one of the most important factors of maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
WP3 Psychological and Social Aspects of Childbirth
WP3.1 Psychological risks associated with multiple births
Data obtained in this research would be used to identify appropriate counselling and support mechanisms for women pregnant with multiples.
WP3.2 Individual and contextual psychosocial protection and risk factors of female mental health in pregnancy and after the birth
Contemporary demographic and socio-economic trends in Slovenia are less favourable at this time. Therefore, the understanding and planning of effective prevention and intervention is highly important during pregnancy not only for woman’s health during pregnancy and at childbirth, but also to support a favourable early development of a child.
WP4 Neonatology and child neurology
This will be the first study to establish long-term brain hypoxia in a cohort of Slovenian children (now young adults).
We will get important information on diet regimes in slovenian mothers (sample of around 300 mothers) as well as on protective effects of PUFAs in children exposed to mercury.
Most important scientific results
Annual report
2014,
2015,
final report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Annual report
2014,
2015,
final report
