Study of the causal relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease and hypertension through two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis

• Published in: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
• Main Authors: Weige Li, Qian Wang, Wenjie Li, Xiang Liu, Zuobin Li, Qi Dai
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-09-01
• Subjects: causal inference; gastroesophageal reflux disease; hypertension; Mendelian randomization; gastroenterology
• Online Access: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1326348/full

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the causal relationship between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and hypertension using a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis.MethodsThe associated data of GERD with hypertension were derived from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) database, and two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was performed using methods including inverse variance weighting (IVW), MR-Egger, and weighted median (WM) to investigate the causal association between GERD and hypertension.ResultsA total of 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) strongly associated with GERD were screened out, and the IVW suggested a causal relationship between GERD and hypertension (OR: 1.057; 95% CI: 1.044–1.071; P < 0.05). The weighted median also showed a similar relationship (OR: 1.051, 95% CI: 1.032–1.07; P < 0.05). In addition, no heterogeneity or horizontal pleiotropy was observed, suggesting a robustness of the outcome.ConclusionThere is a positive causal relationship between GERD and hypertension.