Higher levels of cardiovascular biomarkers following hypertensive compared to normotensive pregnancy

Hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (HDP) is associated with an increased risk for later-life cardiovascular disease (CVD). Whether the HDP pregnancy itself confers risk toward CVD later in life is suggested in several epidemiologic studies. Given this connection and that the HDP exposure itself may play a role, understanding whether markers associated with cardiovascular risk vary based on HDP history in the years following pregnancy may assist with risk stratification and development of targeted interventions. We measured 77 proteins (CVD-associated and inflammatory markers) in n = 22 individuals with a history of HDP and n = 42 matched controls with no HDP history at a median of 4 years after pregnancy. Several CVD-associated proteins (fibrinogen, fetuin-A, L-selectin, and alpha-1-acid glycoprotein) were significantly elevated, by orders of magnitude, in individuals with a history of HDP compared to normotensive pregnancies (all p < 0.0001). In multivariable linear regression models controlling for age, body mass index, chronic hypertension, and diabetes, a history of HDP remained associated with higher levels of CVD-associated proteins (all p < 0.0001). We clustered samples based on global patterns of CVD protein expression and found a significant difference in CVD protein expression patterns between post-Normal and post-HDP samples. Conversely, differences in circulating inflammatory markers were largely insignificant or more subtle than those observed with the CVD-associated proteins. Identification of biomarkers associated with CVD in the intervening years after HDP but before evident CVD is critical to understanding post-HDP cardiovascular risk to provide insight for the development of therapeutic interventions that mitigate CVD event risk in this high-risk population.

Methods
Clinical metadata was abstracted from electronic health records by trained obstetric providers.