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Faculty have requested this content not be shared on social media
Faculty have requested this content not be shared on social media
CME Credit Offered
CME Credit Offered
Abstract Award
Abstract Award

Poster Session 4

(975) Epigenetic Age Acceleration and Blood Pressure in Pregnancy: Findings from the CHAP Study

Friday, January 31, 2025
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM  
Objective: Elevated blood pressure (BP) during pregnancy can have cardiovascular health consequences for the mother in the short and long term. Measures of biological age including DNA methylation age (DNAmAge) and derived epigenetic age acceleration (EAA) have been associated with cardiovascular traits. However, few studies have examined if epigenetic age measures are associated with BP during pregnancy and PreE.

Study Design: We performed a secondary analysis of the Chronic Hypertension and Pregnancy (CHAP) study of n=2408 individuals with mild hypertension randomized to standard care versus treatment. We measured DNAmAge from blood samples drawn between 6-23 weeks gestation in n=1310 from the trial. DNAmAge was measured using 4 calculators: 1) Horvath, 2) Hannum, 3) skin and blood, and 4) PhenoAge. We analyzed correlations between the DNAmAge clocks and chronological age, as well as associations between EAA and five BP variables as outcomes 1) PreE; 2) systolic and diastolic BP (SBP/DBP) at baseline (6-23 weeks), 3) visit 2 SBP/DBP (23-34 weeks), 4) delivery SBP/DBP, and 5) 6-weeks post-partum (PP) SBP/DBP).  Regression models (linear for BP and logistic for PreE) were adjusted for ancestry and smoking during pregnancy.

Results: The study population was 50% Black, 38% White and 12% other, and the average age was 32.3 ± 5.7 years.  DNAmAge was highly correlated with chronological age for each of the 4 calculators. EAA from the skin and blood clock was associated with baseline SBP (p=0.006), baseline DBP (p=0.029), and DBP PP (p=0.029).  No EAA estimate was statistically significantly associated with PreE or BP at delivery.  See Table 1 for the association of EAA with baseline SBP, DBP and PreE.  

Conclusion: There was a cross-sectional association between two EAA measures with early pregnancy BP, but not BP later in pregnancy or PreE.  Other epigenetic variables and/or estimates from assays measured at additional time points may give additional insight into the relationship between biological aging and BP during pregnancy in women with chronic hypertension.