Cohort profile update: the Finnish Genetics of Pre-eclampsia Consortium (FINNPEC)
Tiina J Jääskeläinen, Anni Kivelä, A. Inkeri Lokki, Tea Kaartokallio, Eija Kortelainen, Jaakko Tyrmi, Jaakko Leinonen, Eero Kajantie, Juha Kere, Katja Kivinen, Anneli Pouta, Seppo Heinonen, Hannele LaivuoriPurpose
The Finnish Genetics of Pre-eclampsia Consortium (FINNPEC) study was originally established between 2008 and 2011 to develop a nationwide clinical and genomic database. By enrolling women with and without pre-eclampsia (PE), alongside their partners and infants, the study aims to identify the genetic and molecular determinants of PE. This update summarises the final dataset, reviews key findings since the 2016 cohort profile, and outlines current research directions.
Participants
FINNPEC is a multicentre, cross-sectional case–control cohort collected across five Finnish university hospitals. The final cohort comprises 2810 women (1654 PE cases and 1156 controls), with comprehensive biological samples and clinical data collected from their children and the children’s fathers.
A longitudinal subgroup—the FINNCARE study—enrolled 192 families with prior PE and 92 control families between 2019 and 2022. This subgroup underwent cardiovascular risk profiling and participated in a randomised controlled trial evaluating a 12-month lifestyle intervention to mitigate cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk 8–12 years postpartum.
Findings to date
Research within FINNPEC has provided novel insights into maternal and fetal genetic susceptibility, revealing a shared genetic architecture between PE, blood pressure regulation and CVD. Studies have also advanced our understanding of the role of angiogenic imbalance, metabolic alterations and non-traditional risk factors in the pathogenesis of PE.
Future plans
The current aim is to understand the complex, long-term association of PE and CVD within families. Ongoing studies focus on (1) risk stratification using registry data to classify CVD risk in women with prior PE; (2) assessing how genetic susceptibility to PE and CVD predicts pregnancy outcomes and later-life cardiovascular health; and (3) exploring how paternal and fetal genetics influence maternal PE risk and subsequent CVD morbidity.