52. Cardiovascular risk factors track from mother to child

Background Cardiovascular risk factors can track from mother to child via several pathways: intra-uterine programming, genetic inheritance and shared environmental risk factors after pregnancy. The degree of tracking and to which extend this is influenced by these pathways is unknown. This study determined the degree of tracking between maternal and offspring micro- and macrovascular cardiovascular risk factors after pregnancy and the extent to which this is influenced by pregnancy complications and shared environmental risk factors. Methods We included 5624 mother-offspring pairs from The Generation R Study; an ongoing prospective population-based birth cohort. Information on pregnancy complications (pre-eclampsia, small for gestational age and preterm birth) was obtained through hospital charts. Mother-offspring associations were assessed six years after pregnancy (central retinal arteriolar and venular calibers, blood pressure, left atrial diameter, aortic root diameter, left ventricular mass, fractional shortening and pulse wave velocity) and nine years after pregnancy (blood pressure). Results We observed a positive association for all mother-offspring parameters six and nine years after pregnancy ( P -values Conclusions Six and nine years after pregnancy, an adverse cardiovascular profile in mothers is strongly associated with an adverse cardiovascular profile in their offspring. Results were not attenuated by environmental exposures or a previous pregnancy complication. This supports the hypothesis that cardiovascular risk factors (micro- and macrovascular) track from mother to child, regardless off the course of pregnancy and may aid in cardiovascular risk stratification.