{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,13]],"date-time":"2026-10-13T22:26:14Z","timestamp":1791930374389,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1697414400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension and small-for-gestational age babies are all associated with impaired placental vascularisation. This study compared the effects of these conditions the systemic small vessel calibre that was examined in the retina.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This was a cross-sectional observational study of consecutive pregnant women recruited from an antenatal clinic. Participants underwent a Glucose Tolerance Test, BP measurements, and were examined for small-for-gestational age babies as per national guidelines. They also underwent retinal photography with a non-mydriatic camera, and vessel calibres were measured with a validated semi-quantitative system at a retinal grading centre. Some participants also underwent testing of retinal vascular responsiveness to a flickering light.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Women with gestational diabetes (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200968) had a higher mean arterial pressure (85\u2009\u00b1\u20099\u2009mm Hg) than normal pregnant women (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200927, 80\u2009\u00b1\u20098\u2009mmHg, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.01). They also had smaller mean retinal arteriole (147.5\u2009\u00b1\u200913.6\u2009\u03bcm and 159.7\u2009\u00b1\u20096.7\u2009\u03bcm respectively, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.01) and venular calibre (221.0\u2009\u00b1\u200913.4\u2009\u03bcm and 232.8\u2009\u00b1\u200920.1\u2009\u03bcm respectively, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.01) than normal. However their babies\u2019 mean birth weights were not different from normal (3,311\u2009\u00b1\u2009558\u2009g and 3,401\u2009\u00b1\u2009600\u2009g respectively, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.48). They also demonstrated a trend to reduced retinal arteriolar dilatation (3.5\u2009\u00b1\u20091.3%, <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200923) in response to vasodilatory stimuli (4.4\u2009\u00b1\u20091.8%) (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200911) (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.08) consistent with endothelial dysfunction. Women with pregnancy-associated hypertension (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200935) had a higher mean arterial pressure (101\u2009\u00b1\u200912\u2009mm Hg, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.01), a smaller mean retinal arteriolar calibre (139.9\u2009\u00b1\u200910.6\u2009\u03bcm, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.0001), and a lower baby mean birth weight than for normal pregnancies (3,095\u2009\u00b1\u2009443\u2009g, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.02). Likewise, women with small-for-gestational age babies (<jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u200931) had a higher mean arterial pressure (89\u2009\u00b1\u200919\u2009mm Hg, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.03), a smaller mean retinal arteriolar calibre (141.6\u2009\u00b1\u200912.8\u2009\u03bcm, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.01) and a lower baby mean birth weight than for normal pregnancies (2,468\u2009\u00b1\u2009324\u2009g, <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&amp;lt;\u20090.0001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Mean retinal arterial calibre was reduced in women with gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension or small-for-gestational age babies. The reduction in calibre was greatest in pregnancy-associated hypertension and small-for-gestational age babies. Systemic arteriole narrowing may contribute to the pathogenesis of placental vascular dysfunction in these conditions.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmed.2023.1265555","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]],"date-time":"2023-10-16T15:24:16Z","timestamp":1697469856000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["Retinal small vessel narrowing in women with gestational diabetes, pregnancy-associated hypertension, or small-for-gestational age babies"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Joseph","family":"Phillipos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thao Vi","family":"Luong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deborah","family":"Chang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Suresh","family":"Varadarajan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul","family":"Howat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lauren","family":"Hodgson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Deb","family":"Colville","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Judy","family":"Savige","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2139","DOI":"10.1172\/JCI119387","article-title":"Human cytotrophoblasts adopt a vascular phenotype as they differentiate. 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