No Causal Link Found Between Cardiometabolic Factors and MS Risk

The following article is part of conference coverage from the 8th Joint American Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) and European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) MSVirtual2020 event. Neurology Advisor‘s staff will be reporting breaking news associated with research conducted by leading experts in neurology. .

Results from Mendelian randomization analyses found that blood pressure variation, hypertension (HTN), lipid levels, and type 2 diabetes (T2D) do not have a genetically-driven association with multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. This was according to study results presented at the 8th Joint American Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) and European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) MSVirtual2020 event, held September 11-13, 2020.

The goal of this study was to examine the impact of HTN, cholesterol, and T2D, as well as variation in continuous measures of blood pressure and cholesterol levels on MS risk. To achieve this, study researchers performed 2-sample Mendelian randomization (2SMR) using multiple summary statistics from multiple genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for all-exposure outcome combinations. These included 4 GWAS of MS, 1 of diastolic blood pressure (DBP), 1 of systolic blood pressure (SBP), 2 of HTN, 2 of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), 2 of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and 2 of T2D.

Study researchers adjusted all 2SMR analyses for horizontal pleiotropy by using the Egger regression approach. Results indicated that no evidence suggested any casual associations between HTN, SBP, DBP, HDL, LDL, or T2D on MS risk.

“Considering the relationships between BMI and MS, and BMI and these other cardiometabolic traits, further research is necessary to disentangle the mechanisms through which BMI confers risk for MS,” concluded the researchers.

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Reference

Briggs F, Misicka E. Hypertension, cholesterol levels, and type II diabetes are not associated with multiple sclerosis risk: Mendelian randomization analyses. Presented at: 8th Joint American Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis and European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis MSVirtual2020 event; September 11-13, 2020. Abstract P0467.