Data from: Systemic immune dysregulation in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy persists years after delivery

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including
preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, are associated with an
increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) later in life. Mechanisms
that link HDP to CVD, however, remain unclear. Methods: We used a
high-dimensional single-cell mass cytometry approach to profile the
distribution and functional responses of maternal immune cells in three
groups of HDP cases and normotensive controls: antepartum, postpartum, and
midlife. We used multivariable sparse modeling to distinguish HDP cases
from controls. Results: We accurately distinguished HDP cases from
controls at all three study timepoints, with area under the receiver
operator characteristic (AUROC) values of 0.814 for the antepartum group,
0.757 for the postpartum group, and 0.692 for the midlife group. We
identified a persistent immune dysregulation signal among cases at all
three timepoints, characterized by increased B cell frequency and
decreased pSTAT3 response upon cytokine stimulation in classical
monocytes. Conclusions: Persistent immune dysregulation among cases
suggests that HDP has a lasting impact on the immune system, which may
contribute to elevated long-term risk of CVD development.