Pre-eclampsia children prone to higher BP in early life

Children born to mothers with pre-eclampsia (PE) tend to develop adverse blood pressure (BP) profile and arterial stiffness early in life, reveals a study.

“PE-related BP is related with maternal gestational BP and prematurity, whereas arterial stiffness is determined by child characteristics at follow-up,” the authors said. “The alterations in BP are pronounced in early-onset PE.”

A total of 182 PE (46 early-onset with diagnosis before 34 gestational weeks and 136 late-onset) and 85 non-PE children were included in this study. They were assessed 8‒12 years from delivery.

The authors then evaluated the following parameters: office and 24-h ambulatory BP, body composition, anthropometrics, lipids, glucose, inflammatory markers, and tonometry-derived pulse wave velocity (PWV) and central BPs.

PE children had higher office BP, central BPs, 24-h systolic BP (SBP), and pulse pressure (PP) than those in the non-PE group, while early-onset PE children showed the highest SBP, SBP loads, and PP. Moreover, SBP nondipping during night-time was frequent in the PE group.

Notably, maternal SBP at first antenatal visit and prematurity (birth weight or gestational weeks) drove the increase child 24-h mean SBP among PE children. After adjustments, however, the association of child 24-h mean PP with PE and child adiposity persisted.

Furthermore, the late-onset PE subgroup had increased central and peripheral PWVs, attributed to child age and anthropometrics, child and maternal office SBP at follow-up. However, no associations were seen with maternal antenatal SBPs, and no prematurity was observed. In addition, body composition, anthropometrics, or blood parameters did not differ.