Abstract
The objective of this study was to determine the associations between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and early childhood cardiometabolic risk factors in the offspring. Therefore, 7794 women from the Generation Rotterdam Study were included, an ongoing population-based prospective birth cohort. Women with a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy were classified as such when they were affected by pregnancy induced hypertension, pre-eclampsia or the haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelet count (HELLP) syndrome during pregnancy. Early childhood cardiometabolic risk factors were defined as the body mass index at the age of 2, 6, 12, 36 months and 6 years. Additionally, it included systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total fat mass, cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin and clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors at 6 years of age. Sex-specific differences in the associations between hypertensive disorders and early childhood cardiometabolic risk factors were investigated. Maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were inversely associated with childhood body mass index at 12 months (confounder model: -0.15 SD, 95% CI -0.27; -0.03) and childhood triglyceride at 6 years of age (confounder model: -0.28 SD, 95% CI -0.45; -0.10). For the association with triglycerides, this was only present in girls. Maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy were not associated with childhood body mass index at 2, 6 and 36 months. No associations were observed between maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, body mass index, fat mass index and cholesterol levels at 6 years of age. Our findings do not support an independent and consistent association between maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and early childhood cardiometabolic risk factors in their offspring. However, this does not rule out possible longer term effects of maternal hypertensive disorders of pregnancy on offspring cardiometabolic health.
Highlights
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) complicate up to 10% of pregnancies and represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in both mother and child [1,2,3]
The objective of this study was to determine the associations between hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and early childhood cardiometabolic risk factors in the offspring
In S1 Table in S1 File, offspring parameters according to the type of HDP that the mother experienced are demonstrated
Summary
Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) complicate up to 10% of pregnancies and represent a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in both mother and child [1,2,3]. Conflicting data exist on the associations with cardiometabolic risk factors in the offspring [7,8,9,10,11]. A number of mechanism are proposed, through which HDP may affect cardiometabolic risk factors in the offspring. There may be alterations in fetal vasculature and cardiac development due to exposure to maternal angiogenic factors during pregnancy [12, 13]. Relative fetal undernutrition due to maternal vasoconstriction may lead to adjusted fetal programming, which has a negative effect on cardiometabolic health in the offspring [14,15,16]. Shared maternal and fetal genetic risk and life style factors for cardiometabolic risk factors may explain the association [17,18,19]. Spontaneous or iatrogenic preterm birth and the associated low birthweight may mediate the association with increased cardiometabolic risk factors in the offspring [20,21,22]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
