Abstract
Aims
The aim of this study was to apply the Mendelian randomization (MR) design to explore the potential causal association between COVID-19 and the risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy.
Methods
Our primary genetic instrument comprised 8 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with COVID-19 at genome-wide significance. Data on the associations between the SNPs and the risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy were obtained from study based on a very large cohort of European population. The random-effects inverse-variance weighted method was conducted for the main analyses, with a complementary analysis of the weighted median and MR-Egger approaches.
Results
Using IVW, we found that genetically predicted COVID-19 was significantly positively associated with hypertension disorders in pregnancy, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.111 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.042–1.184; P = 0.001]. Weighted median regression also showed directionally similar estimates [OR 1.098 (95% CI, 1.013–1.190), P = 0.023]. Both funnel plots and MR-Egger intercepts suggest no directional pleiotropic effects observed.
Conclusions
Our findings provide direct evidence that there is a shared genetic predisposition so that patients infected with COVID-19 may be causally associated with increased risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, mendelian randomization, Hypertension disorders in pregnancy, 【초록키워드】 Genetic, SNPs, polymorphism, risk, hypertension, Pregnancy, Patient, SNP, large cohort, estimate, association, Evidence, Analysis, Odds ratio, Genetic predisposition, complementary, confidence interval, 95% CI, increased risk, approaches, European population, disorder, funnel plot, genome-wide significance, weighted median, MR-Egger, Result, predicted, significantly, conducted, median, analyses, directional, infected with COVID-19, inverse-variance weighted, IVW, pleiotropic effect, random-effect, single-nucleotide, with COVID-19, 【제목키워드】 risk, hypertension, disorder, predisposition,