Differences in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and levels of C-reactive protein after puerperium in women with hypertensive disorders during pregnancy

To measure high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels and to assess the presence of metabolic syndrome (MS) after puerperium in women diagnosed with various hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (HDP), a consecutive, cross-sectional case study at the 15th week after gestation. The sample consisted of 264 women who were admitted to a women's hospital. The diagnoses consisted of transient gestational hypertension (TGH=43.2%), preeclampsia (PC=29.5%), chronic hypertension (CH=20.1%) and PC superimposed on CH (7.2%). A diagnosis of previous hypertension was present in 45.8% of the CH group. The prevalence of MS was 16.7% (CH=42.1%, TGH=13.9%, PC=4.1%, P<0.001). The average hsCRP levels for the CH, TGH and PC groups were 3.79±2.76, 3.55±3.15 and 2.89±3.02, respectively (P=0.040). The levels of hsCRP were higher in women with MS (4.71±3.15 vs. 3.01±2.88 mg l−1 in those without MS, P<0.001), and they increased when a higher number of MS criteria was fulfilled (P<0.001). The results demonstrated a positive correlation between hsCRP levels and body mass index (BMI) (r=0.46), waist circumference (r=0.50) or the number of fulfilled MS criteria (r=0.56). The results suggest differences in vascular risk that depend on the type of HDP and on the prevalence of MS. The prevalence of MS was notably higher in the CH group, intermediate among the TGH group and much lower in the PC group. Differences in hsCRP levels also depended on the type of HDP (higher levels in CH and TGH patients in comparison with PC patients). Women with MS had higher hsCRP levels compared with women without MS, and the levels correlated with the number of MS criteria fulfilled. This result suggests that subclinical inflammatory status is correlated with the number of MS components present. Furthermore, hsCRP levels increased with increasing BMIs and waist circumferences.