Genetic predisposition to hypertension is associated with preeclampsia in European and Central Asian women
Disease areas:
reproductive and urinary health
Last updated:
Author(s):
Valgerdur Steinthorsdottir, Ralph McGinnis, Nicholas O. Williams, Lilja Stefansdottir, Gudmar Thorleifsson, Scott Shooter, João Fadista, Jon K. Sigurdsson, Kirsi M. Auro, Galina Berezina, Maria-Carolina Borges, Suzannah Bumpstead, Jonas Bybjerg-Grauholm, Irina Colgiu, Vivien A. Dolby, Frank Dudbridge, Stephanie M. Engel, Christopher S. Franklin, Michael L. Frigge, Yr Frisbaek, Reynir T. Geirsson, Frank Geller, Solveig Gretarsdottir, Daniel F. Gudbjartsson, Quaker Harmon, David Michael Hougaard, Tatyana Hegay, Anna Helgadottir, Sigrun Hjartardottir, Tiina Jääskeläinen, Hrefna Johannsdottir, Ingileif Jonsdottir, Thorhildur Juliusdottir, Noor Kalsheker, Abdumadjit Kasimov, John P. Kemp, Katja Kivinen, Kari Klungsøyr, Wai K. Lee, Mads Melbye, Zosia Miedzybrodska, Ashley Moffett, Dilbar Najmutdinova, Firuza Nishanova, Thorunn Olafsdottir, Markus Perola, Fiona Broughton Pipkin, Lucilla Poston, Gordon Prescott, Saedis Saevarsdottir, Damilya Salimbayeva, Paula Juliet Scaife, Line Skotte, Eleonora Staines-Urias, Olafur A. Stefansson, Karina Meden Sørensen, Liv Cecilie Vestrheim Thomsen, Vinicius Tragante, Lill Trogstad, Nigel A. B. Simpson, Tamara Aripova, Juan P. Casas, Anna F. Dominiczak, James J. Walker, Unnur Thorsteinsdottir, Ann-Charlotte Iversen, Bjarke Feenstra, Deborah A. Lawlor, Heather Allison Boyd, Per Magnus, Hannele Laivuori, Nodira Zakhidova, Gulnara Svyatova, Kari Stefansson, Linda Morgan
Preeclampsia is a serious complication of pregnancy, affecting both maternal and fetal health. In genome-wide association meta-analysis of European and Central Asian mothers, we identify sequence variants that associate with preeclampsia in the maternal genome at ZNF831/20q13 and FTO/16q12. These are previously established variants for blood pressure (BP) and the FTO variant has also been associated with body mass index (BMI). Further analysis of BP variants establishes that variants at MECOM/3q26, FGF5/4q21 and SH2B3/12q24 also associate with preeclampsia through the maternal genome. We further show that a polygenic risk score for hypertension associates with preeclampsia. However, comparison with gestational hypertension indicates that additional factors modify the risk of preeclampsia.
The genetic contribution of a multitude of diseases has been at least partially identified. The mechanisms through which genetics play a role in them are…
