Association between Plasma Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Nested Case-Control Study
- 1Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China
- 2Department of Maternal and Child Health, Suzhou Industrial Park Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Suzhou 215021, Jiangsu, China
- 3Department of Community Health Care, Kunshan Maternal and Children’s Health Care Hospital, Kunshan 215300, Jiangsu, China
Abstract
Objective:. To investigate the associations between plasma short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Methods:. A nested case-control study was conducted comprising 387 pairs of HDP cases and non-HDP controls. The HDP group included 291 cases of gestational hypertension (GH) and 96 of preeclampsia (PE) or chronic hypertension (CH) with superimposed PE (PE/CH-PE). Seven plasma SCFA levels were assayed at gestational weeks 16–20, before HDP onset. The individual effects of the seven SCFAs on HDP risk were analyzed using logistic regression, with false discovery rate (FDR) correction applied to calculate adjusted P-values in multivariate analysis. The joint effects of the seven SCFAs were evaluated using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression. Results:. HDP cases exhibited significantly lower median (interquartile range) valerate levels than controls (9 (5–14) vs. 10 (6–18) ng/mL, P = 0.001). Among the seven analyzed SCFAs, isobutyrate and isovalerate demonstrated the highest correlation coefficient at 0.85 (P < 0.001). Each interquartile range increase in valerate content was associated with a low risk of HDP, yielding an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 0.699 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.516–0.946, FDR-corrected P = 0.047). Isobutyrate and hexanoate were also inversely associated with HDP after multivariate adjustment and FDR correction (both P = 0.047), with aORs of 0.899 (95% CI: 0.826–0.980) and 0.686 (95% CI: 0.508–0.927), respectively. WQS regression revealed that joint SCFA exposure was associated with a decreased risk of HDP (aOR: 0.230, 95% CI: 0.105–0.506) and GH (aOR: 0.740, 95% CI: 0.571–0.933). Conclusion:. Plasma levels of valerate, isobutyrate, and hexanoate are inversely associated with HDP risk. Furthermore, the combined effect of these SCFAs is linked to a lower incidence of both HDP and GH. These findings suggest that circulating SCFAs may serve as potential early biomarkers for HDP.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026association,
title = {{Association between Plasma Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Nested Case-Control Study}},
author = {Dandan Wang and Lei Wu and Pei Feng and Yexiu Sun and Di Wu and He Xu and Hao Peng and Hongmei Li},
journal = {Maternal-fetal medicine (Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1097/fm9.0000000000000375},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13706316},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association between Plasma Short-Chain Fatty Acids and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Nested Case-Control Study
AU - Dandan Wang
AU - Lei Wu
AU - Pei Feng
AU - Yexiu Sun
AU - Di Wu
AU - He Xu
AU - Hao Peng
AU - Hongmei Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/26
JO - Maternal-fetal medicine (Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)
DO - 10.1097/fm9.0000000000000375
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/PMC/PMC13706316
AB - Objective:. To investigate the associations between plasma short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Methods:. A nested case-control study was conducted comprising 387 pairs of HDP cases and non-HDP controls. The HDP group included 291 cases of gestational hypertension (GH) and 96 of preeclampsia (PE) or chronic hypertension (CH) with superimposed PE (PE/CH-PE). Seven plasma SCFA levels were assayed at gestational weeks 16–20, before HDP onset. The individual effects of the seven SCFAs on HDP risk were analyzed using logistic regression, with false discovery rate (FDR) correction applied to calculate adjusted P-values in multivariate analysis. The joint effects of the seven SCFAs were evaluated using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression. Results:. HDP cases exhibited significantly lower median (interquartile range) valerate levels than controls (9 (5–14) vs. 10 (6–18) ng/mL, P = 0.001). Among the seven analyzed SCFAs, isobutyrate and isovalerate demonstrated the highest correlation coefficient at 0.85 (P < 0.001). Each interquartile range increase in valerate content was associated with a low risk of HDP, yielding an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 0.699 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.516–0.946, FDR-corrected P = 0.047). Isobutyrate and hexanoate were also inversely associated with HDP after multivariate adjustment and FDR correction (both P = 0.047), with aORs of 0.899 (95% CI: 0.826–0.980) and 0.686 (95% CI: 0.508–0.927), respectively. WQS regression revealed that joint SCFA exposure was associated with a decreased risk of HDP (aOR: 0.230, 95% CI: 0.105–0.506) and GH (aOR: 0.740, 95% CI: 0.571–0.933). Conclusion:. Plasma levels of valerate, isobutyrate, and hexanoate are inversely associated with HDP risk. Furthermore, the combined effect of these SCFAs is linked to a lower incidence of both HDP and GH. These findings suggest that circulating SCFAs may serve as potential early biomarkers for HDP.
SN - 2096-6954
SN - 2641-5895
ER -