Pregnancy-associated hypertension and offspring cardiometabolic health

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether pregnancy-associated hypertension (gestational hypertension and preeclampsia) was associated with the cardiometabolic health of young offspring. METHODS: This was a prospective observational follow-up study from 2012 to 2013 of children born to women previously enrolled in a mild gestational diabetes mellitus treatment trial or nongestational diabetes mellitus observational study. At 5-10 years after birth, children were examined and fasting blood samples obtained to determine the following cardiometabolic risk factors: blood pressure (BP), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, waist circumference, and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: This analysis included 979 children evaluated at a median 7 years of age. Twenty-three (2%) were born preterm from a hypertensive pregnancy, 73 (7%) were born at term from a hypertensive pregnancy, 58 (6%) were born preterm from a normotensive pregnancy, and 825 (84%) were born at term from a normotensive pregnancy (reference group). After adjusting for confounding factors, mean adjusted systolic BP was significantly higher in the children who were born at term to mothers who experienced pregnancy-associated hypertension compared with those born at term to normotensive mothers (systolic BP of 104 mm Hg, 95% CI 101-106 vs systolic BP of 99 mm Hg, 95% CI 99-100, P=.001). No other significant differences were observed. CONCLUSION: Pregnancy-associated hypertension in women who deliver at term was associated with higher systolic BP in the offspring, but not with their measures of diastolic BP, BMI, waist circumference, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance, glucose, or lipids. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT00069576.