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. 2022 Jul 14;12(1):283.
doi: 10.1038/s41398-022-02052-3.

COVID-19 and risk of neurodegenerative disorders: A Mendelian randomization study

Chunyu Li  1 , Jiayan Liu  2 , Junyu Lin  1 , Huifang Shang  3
Affiliations

COVID-19 and risk of neurodegenerative disorders: A Mendelian randomization study

Chunyu Li et al. Transl Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Emerging evidence has suggested a close correlation between COVID-19 and neurodegenerative disorders. However, whether there exists a causal association and the effect direction remains unknown. To examine the causative role of COVID-19 in the risk of neurodegenerative disorders, we estimated their genetic correlation, and then conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies of susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity of COVID-19, as well as six major neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, Lewy body dementia, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. We identified a significant and positive genetic correlation between hospitalization of COVID-19 and AD (genetic correlation: 0.23, P = 8.36E-07). Meanwhile, hospitalization of COVID-19 was significantly associated with a higher risk of AD (OR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.03, P: 1.19E-03). Consistently, susceptibility (OR: 1.05, 95% CI: 1.01-1.09, P: 9.30E-03) and severity (OR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02, P: 0.012) of COVID-19 were nominally associated with higher risk of AD. The results were robust under all sensitivity analyses. These results demonstrated that COVID-19 could increase the risk of AD. Future development of preventive or therapeutic interventions could attach importance to this to alleviate the complications of COVID-19.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Forest plot showing results from the genetic correlation analysis.
Genetic correlation between A hospitalization, B susceptibility, C severity of COVID-19 and neurodegenerative disorders. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals. Bold P value denotes statistical significance after the Bonferroni correction.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Forest plot showing results from the Mendelian randomization analysis.
Results from the Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate causal role of A hospitalization, B susceptibility, and C severity of COVID-19 in neurodegenerative disorders using the inverse variance weighted method. Results from the MR analysis to evaluate potential causal role of D hospitalization, E susceptibility, and F severity of COVID-19 in neurodegenerative disorders using the weighted median method. Estimates are per 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in the trait. Bold P value denotes nominal association (P < 0.05).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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