Genomic variation associated with cardiovascular disease progression following preeclampsia: A systematic review

Background Women with a history of preeclampsia (PE) have been shown to have up to five times the risk of developing later-life cardiovascular disease (CVD). While PE and CVD are known to share clinical and molecular characteristics, there are limited studies investigating their shared genomics (genetics, epigenetics or transcriptomics) variation over time. Therefore, we sought to systematically review the literature to identify longitudinal studies focused on the genomic progression to CVD following PE. Methods A literature search of primary sources through PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science and Embase via OVID was performed. Studies published from January 1 st , 1980, to February 02 nd , 2023, that investigated genomics in PE and CVD were eligible for inclusion. Studies that did not include CVD or related risk factors as outcome, were in non-human species or focused on pregnancy complications other than PE were excluded. Included studies were screened based on Cochrane systematic review guidelines in conjunction with the PRISMA 2020 checklist. Eligible articles were further assessed for quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Results A total of 8929 articles were screened with 14 studies subjected to quality assessment. Following further evaluation, six studies were included for final review. All six of these studies were heterogenous in regard to CVD/risk factor as outcome, gene mapping approach, and in different targeted genes. The only common variable across all six studies was use of a case-control study design. Conclusions Our results provide critical insight into the heterogeneous nature of genomic studies investigating CVD following PE and highlight the urgent need for longitudinal studies to further investigate the genetic variation underlying the progression to CVD following PE.