Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area Is Associated With Increased Gestational Blood Pressure and Uric Acid Levels Among Pregnant Women From Rural North China

Shaonan Hu; Feifan Yu; Hong Jiang; Wei Shang; Hui Miao; Simin Li; Jianjiang Zhao; Hui Xiao

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.830732

Periodontal Inflamed Surface Area Is Associated With Increased Gestational Blood Pressure and Uric Acid Levels Among Pregnant Women From Rural North China

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Mar 1:9:830732. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.830732. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shaonan Hu¹, Feifan Yu², Hong Jiang³, Wei Shang⁴, Hui Miao⁴, Simin Li⁵, Jianjiang Zhao⁶, Hui Xiao⁵

Affiliations

¹ Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany.
² School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States.
³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Sichuan Academy of Medical Science, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, Chengdu, China.
⁴ Heping Hospital Affiliated to Changzhi Medical College, Changzhi, China.
⁵ Stomatological Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ Shenzhen Stomatological Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

Background: Periodontal disease has been associated with gestational complications and both conditions have a high prevalence in rural populations from developing regions. A cross-sectional study was carried out to explore the relationship between periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA), blood pressure (BP), and, serum uric acid levels (UA) in a group of rural North Chinese pregnant women in the third trimester of pregnancy.

Methods: Three hundred and thirty-five rural women aged 20-34 years, with normal body mass index (BMI) were examined in a cross-sectional study during their third trimester of gestation. Exclusion criteria were history of pregnancy complications, multiple pregnancy, smoking habits, diabetes, hypertension or any known infectious disease. Socio-demographic variables, including age and socioeconomic status (SES), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) readings, serum UA levels, and PISA values were recorded. A structural equation model was implemented with two constructed latent variables including "Dem" (comprising of age and SES category to represent unobserved demographic variables) and, "BP" (comprising of SBP and DBP to account for measurement error and lack of multiple BP readings). The model accounted for co-variance of BP and UA, and implemented simultaneous regressions for BP and UA as outcomes, upon Dem and PISA values as exogenous variables.

Results: The median PISA score was 1,081.7 (IQR = 835.01), reflecting high levels of periodontal inflammation in the sample. SEM showed a significant association of PISA with BP (estimate = 0.011, 95% CI = 0.009-0.012 p < 0.001) and UA (estimate = 0.001, 95% CI = 0.001-0.001, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Higher PISA values were significantly associated with higher blood pressure and uric acid levels among rural pregnant women in a cross-sectional sample from a center in North China after accounting for a latent demographic construct derived from age and SES.

Keywords: gestational hypertension; low birth weight; periodontal disease; periodontal inflamed surface area; uric acid.