Associations of maternal blood pressure-raising polygenic risk scores with fetal weight

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Maternal-Fetal Medicine
• Public Health

Background:

• Maternal blood pressure (BP) influences fetal weight, a key indicator of neonatal and adult health.
• The relationship between genetic predisposition to elevated BP and fetal weight remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between maternal BP-raising polygenic risk scores (PRS) and estimated fetal weights (EFWs) during pregnancy.
• To determine if genetic susceptibility to hypertension affects fetal growth trajectories.

Main Methods:

• Utilized genotype data from 1,691 pregnant women across diverse ethnicities (White, Black, Hispanic, Asian) from the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies.
• Calculated polygenic risk scores (PRS) for systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) based on genome-wide association study data.
• Employed linear regression to compare EFW differences between the highest and lowest PRS tertiles, adjusting for covariates.

Main Results:

• Hispanics in the highest DBP PRS tertile exhibited significantly lower EFWs at 20, 27, and 40 weeks gestation compared to the lowest tertile.
• Asian participants in the highest DBP PRS tertile showed reduced EFW at 40 weeks.
• Maternal SBP PRS was associated with lower EFWs at 13, 20, and 27 weeks in Asian participants.

Conclusions:

• Maternal genetic susceptibility to hypertension is associated with reduced fetal growth.
• These findings suggest a genetic link between maternal BP regulation and fetal development.
• Highlights potential for genetic risk assessment in predicting fetal growth variations and informing perinatal care.