Healthy lifestyle reduces cardiovascular risk in women with genetic predisposition to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy
The genetic risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy is linked with the development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, the effects of lifestyle and metabolic syndrome on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease have not been evaluated. Here, we assess the long-term association between these factors and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in women with genetic risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. We evaluate the genetic risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy using a genome-wide polygenic risk score derived from a large-scale GWAS. The incidence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is evaluated according to genetic risk, lifestyle, and metabolic syndrome. Individuals with a very high genetic risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy have a 53.0% higher chance of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease than those with a low genetic risk. However, the risk of developing atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease is reduced by up to 64.6% through the maintenance of an ideal metabolic syndrome status and a healthy lifestyle in the high genetic risk group (top 20%), and by up to 65.4% in the low genetic risk group (bottom 20%). These findings emphasize that maintaining a healthy lifestyle in women is equally effective at reducing the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease independent of genetic risk for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Authors
- Sang‐Hyuk Jung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4116-3327)
- Jae‐Seung Yun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5949-1826)
- Haemin Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4278-6032)
- Seung Mi Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2543-0408)
- Hong‐Hee Won (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5719-0552)
- Brenda Xiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4202-7247)
- Manu Shivakumar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4733-7375)
- Young‐Mi Jung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4836-4714)
- Joong Shin Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5246-0477)
- Jong Kwan Jun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0242-1736)
- Bo Gun Jang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4683-8338)
- Dokyoon Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4592-9564)
- Jaeyoung Kim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6983-7907)
- Chan‐Wook Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1290-6438)
Institutions
- Seoul National University (KR)
- Kyungpook National University Hospital (KR)
- Samsung Medical Center (KR)
- Seoul National University Hospital (KR)
- Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (KR)
- The Catholic University of Korea St. Vincent's Hospital (KR)
- National University College (PR)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Sungkyunkwan University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-02-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-56107-2
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Birth, Development, and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.48
Funders
- University of Pennsylvania
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
- University of Pennsylvania Health System
- National Research Foundation
- Seoul National University
- National Research Foundation of Korea
- Seoul National University Hospital
- Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences