Interpregnancy interval and the risk for recurrence of placental mediated pregnancy complications

Body Mass Index, Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk

BACKGROUND

Obesity is a well-established risk factor for both adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) and cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, it is not known whether APOs are mediators or markers of the obesity-CVD relationship. This study examined the association between body mass index, APOs, and postpartum CVD risk factors.

METHODS

The sample included adults from the nuMoM2b (Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-To-Be) Heart Health Study who were enrolled in their first trimester (6 weeks-13 weeks 6 days gestation) from 8 United States sites. Participants had a follow-up visit at 3.7 years postpartum. APOs, which included hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm birth, small-for-gestational-age birth, and gestational diabetes, were centrally adjudicated. Mediation analyses estimated the association between early pregnancy body mass index and postpartum CVD risk factors (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes) and the proportion mediated by each APO adjusted for demographics and baseline health behaviors, psychosocial stressors, and CVD risk factor levels.

RESULTS

Among 4216 participants enrolled, mean±SD maternal age was 27±6 years. Early pregnancy prevalence of overweight was 25%, and obesity was 22%. Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy occurred in 15%, preterm birth in 8%, small-for-gestational-age birth in 11%, and gestational diabetes in 4%. Early pregnancy obesity, compared with normal body mass index, was associated with significantly higher incidence of postpartum hypertension (adjusted odds ratio, 1.14 [95% CI, 1.10-1.18]), hyperlipidemia (1.11 [95% CI, 1.08-1.14]), and diabetes (1.03 [95% CI, 1.01-1.04]) even after adjustment for baseline CVD risk factor levels. APOs were associated with higher incidence of postpartum hypertension (1.97 [95% CI, 1.61-2.40]) and hyperlipidemia (1.31 [95% CI, 1.03-1.67]). Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy mediated a small proportion of the association between obesity and incident hypertension (13% [11%-15%]) and did not mediate associations with incident hyperlipidemia or diabetes. There was no significant mediation by preterm birth or small-for-gestational-age birth.

CONCLUSIONS

There was heterogeneity across APO subtypes in their association with postpartum CVD risk factors and mediation of the association between early pregnancy obesity and postpartum CVD risk factors. However, only a small or nonsignificant proportion of the association between obesity and CVD risk factors was mediated by any of the APOs, suggesting APOs are a marker of prepregnancy CVD risk and not a predominant cause of postpartum CVD risk.

Clinical Analysis of Echocardiography and Serum IL-6 and TNF-α Changes in Pregnant Women with Hypertension

In order to explore the changes and clinical significance of serum TNF-α and IL-6 and ET levels in the pathogenesis of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDIP), echocardiography, and serum IL-6 and TNF-α changes in pregnant women with a hypertensive disorder, a clinical analysis method was proposed. A retrospective analysis of 59 pregnant women who visited the obstetrics department of a provincial hospital was divided into 2 groups. The normal control group consisted of 32 normal, uncomplicated pregnant women; the preeclampsia group included 27 patients with systolic blood pressure > 140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg who developed proteinuria after 20 weeks of gestation. The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in serum of normal pregnant women and pregnant women with preeclampsia were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The results showed that compared with normal pregnant women, the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the early pregnant women of Zizhi were significantly increased, and the trend of increased TNF-α and IL-6 levels was related to the severity of complications. With the mean pulmonary arterypressure > 50 mmHg, the serum TNF-α level of pregnant women was significantly higher than that of pregnant women with mean pulmonary arterypressure < 50 mmHg. The analysis found that the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in patients with hypoxic gestational hypertension were significantly increased, and the results of lung tissue immunohistochemistry also showed that serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels in patients with hypoxic gestational hypertension were significantly increased. And serum TNF-α and IL-6 levels were positively correlated with right ventricular systolic blood pressure (RVSP). Conclusion. This study revealed that the elevated levels of serum TNF-α and IL-6 are closely related to the pathophysiological process of gestational hypertension. Serum levels of TNF-α and IL-6 and ET were significantly increased, and the changes of serum TNF-α and IL-6 and ET levels had important clinical value for closely monitoring the severity of the disease and the development of the disease.