HypertensionCohort study
Folic acid intake, genetic variations, and DNA methylation in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a prospective cohort and epigenome-wide association study
- Prospective cohort study and epigenome-wide association study
Authors' conclusion
Pre-pregnancy folic acid intake and genetic factors interact to be associated with HDP risk via folate metabolites, with differing relationships observed for 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and unmetabolized/intermediary metabolites in gestational hypertension.
Study context
- Population
- Chinese pregnant women (2022–2024); UK Biobank women for the epigenome-wide association studyUK Biobank n = 231,057 women
- Participants
- 4,079 women
- Exposure
- Folic acid intake, folate-metabolism genetic variants and red blood cell (RBC) folate metabolites vs hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) risk
- Outcome
- Gestational hypertension and preeclampsia (HDP)
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Odds ratio (95% CI)
Low RBC 5-methyltetrahydrofolate trajectory vs Median 5-methyltetrahydrofolate
1.57(1.15–2.15)
High unmetabolized/intermediary folic acid metabolites in RBC vs Low level
2.01(1.27–3.17)
- Gestational hypertension incidence
- 4.8%
- Preeclampsia incidence
- 4.4%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Folate-related DNA methylation sites and HDP (epigenome-wide association study)
| Comparison | OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| cg16489826 | 1.28 (1.12–1.47) | |
| cg17054900 | 0.86 (0.82–0.90) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Original publication
Folic acid intake, genetic variations, and DNA methylation in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy: a prospective cohort and epigenome-wide association study. Eur J Prev Cardiol. Published 7 April 2026. doi:10.1093/eurjpc/zwag186
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it