What this means
Cardiometabolic complications in pregnancy may alter the intrauterine environment, influence offspring biological ageing and potentially increase the risk of chronic diseases later in life. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine associations between diabetes in pregnancy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, maternal BMI and metabolic syndrome, and offspring biological ageing markers, including telomere length and DNA methylation.
A plain-English summary is on its way. Until then, this is the start of the authors' own summary.
- Who it was tested in
- Earlier studies
- Kind of research
- A summary of earlier studies
The science
- Original title
- Cardiometabolic Complications in Pregnancy and Biological Ageing in the Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
- Authors
- Mekonnen EG, Bianco-Miotto T, Liu K et al.
- Journal
- Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology
- Published
- Oct 22, 2026
- Study type
- Review
- PMID
- 42908312 ↗
Abstract
Background
Cardiometabolic complications in pregnancy may alter the intrauterine environment, influence offspring biological ageing and potentially increase the risk of chronic diseases later in life. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine associations between diabetes in pregnancy, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, maternal BMI and metabolic syndrome, and offspring biological ageing markers, including telomere length and DNA methylation.
What they did
Studies were retrieved from PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Science. Study characteristics, exposures and outcomes were independently extracted and summarised.
What they found
Of the 123 studies, 90 assessed DNA methylation, 28 reported telomere length and 5 reported both outcomes. No differences in telomere length were observed in offspring exposed to gestational diabetes (7 studies) or hypertensive disorders (14 studies). Each unit increase in maternal BMI was associated with a 0.27% decrease in offspring telomere length (3 studies). Exposure to cardiometabolic complications was associated with aberrant DNA methylation patterns in genes related to cardiometabolic pathways. Higher mean methylation level was reported in cord blood (2 studies) and placenta (7 studies) following exposure to diabetes and hypertensive disorders. Higher maternal BMI was associated with slightly shorter offspring telomeres, while no differences were observed following exposure to gestational diabetes or hypertensive disorders. Altered DNA methylation in cardiometabolic genes suggests epigenetic effects of in utero exposure, although heterogeneity in biospecimens and measurement methods limits definitive conclusions.
Other details
Standardised mean differences in telomere length were calculated using Hedges' g, and random effects meta-analysis was applied to pool effect estimates.
The authors' abstract, grouped under plain headings from its own section labels.
Mekonnen EG, Bianco-Miotto T, Liu K et al. Cardiometabolic Complications in Pregnancy and Biological Ageing in the Offspring: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology. 2026. doi:10.1111/ppe.70206. PMID: 42908312. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42908312/