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

Maternal blood pressure (BP) is associated with variations in fetal weight, an important determinant of neonatal and adult health. However, the association of BP-raising genetic risk with fetal weight is unknown. We tested the associations of maternal BP-raising polygenic risk scores (PRS) with estimated fetal weights (EFWs) at 13, 20, 27, and 40 weeks of gestation. This study included 622 White, 637 Black, 568 Hispanic, and 238 Asian pregnant women with genotype data from the NICHD Fetal Growth Studies. PRS of systolic (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were calculated for each participant based on summary statistics from a recent genome-wide association study. Linear regression models were used to compare mean EFW differences between the highest versus lowest tertile of PRS, adjusting for maternal age, education, parity, genetic principal components and fetal sex. Hispanics in the highest DBP PRS tertile, compared to those in the lowest, had 8.1 g (95% CI: −15.1, −1.1), 32.4 g (−58.4, −6.4) and 119.4 g (−218.1, −20.7) lower EFW at 20, 27 and 40 weeks, respectively. Similarly, Asians in the highest DBP PRS tertile had 137.2 g (−263.5, −10.8) lower EFW at week 40, and those in the highest tertile of SBP PRS had 3.2 g (−5.8, −0.7), 12.9 g (−23.5, −2.4), and 39.8 g (−76.9, −2.7) lower EFWs at 13, 20, and 27 weeks. The findings showed that pregnant women’s genetic susceptibility to high BP contributes to reduced fetal growth, suggesting a potential future clinical application in perinatal health.