Authors
Livio Provenzi, Serena Grumi, Roberto Giorda, Giacomo Biasucci, Renza Bonini, Anna Cavallini, Lidia Decembrino, Bruno Drera, Rossana Falcone, Elisa Fazzi, Barbara Gardella, Roberta Giacchero, Renata Nacinovich, Camilla Pisoni, Federico Prefumo, Barbara Scelsa, Maria Valentina Spartà, Pierangelo Veggiotti, Simona Orcesi, Renato Borgatti
Publication date
2020/12/1
Journal
BMJ open
Volume
10
Issue
12
Pages
e044585
Publisher
British Medical Journal Publishing Group
Description
Introduction
COVID-19 is a highly infectious respiratory disease that rapidly emerged as an unprecedented epidemic in Europe, with a primary hotspot in Northern Italy during the first months of 2020. Its high infection rate and rapid spread contribute to set the risk for relevant psychological stress in citizens. In this context, mother–infant health is at risk not only because of potential direct exposure to the virus but also due to high levels of stress experienced by mothers from conception to delivery. Prenatal stress exposure associates with less-than-optimal child developmental outcomes, and specific epigenetic mechanisms (eg, DNA methylation) may play a critical role in mediating this programming association.
Methods and analysis
We present the methodological protocol for a longitudinal, multicentric study on the behavioural and epigenetic effects of COVID-19-related prenatal stress in a cohort of mother–infant …
Total citations
Scholar articles
L Provenzi, S Grumi, R Giorda, G Biasucci, R Bonini… - BMJ open, 2020