A two-sample Mendelian randomization study of circulating lipids and deep venous thrombosis

Abstract

In view of the current debate about the relationship between lipids and deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in clinical studies, a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted to clarify the effects of five circulating lipids (apolipoprotein A1, apolipoprotein B, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides) on DVT from the perspective of genetic inheritance. Five lipids (exposure) were analysed by MR with DVT (outcome) from two different data sources. For the analysis, we used inverse variance weighting and a weighted mode, weighted median, simple mode and MR-Egger regression to analyse the effect of circulating lipids on DVT. In addition, we used the MR-Egger intercept test, Cochran's Q test and "leave-one-out" sensitivity analysis to evaluate horizontal multiplicity, heterogeneity and stability, respectively, in the analysis. In the analysis, the two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis of five common circulating lipids and DVT showed that common circulating lipids had no causal effect on DVT, which is somewhat inconsistent with the findings of many published observational studies. Based on our results, our two-sample MR analysis failed to detect a statistically significant causal relationship between five common circulating lipids and DVT.

Figure 1

Scatter plot of the causal relationship between APOA1 and DVT. Analyses were conducted using the conventional IVW, weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode and MR‒Egger methods. The slope of each line corresponds to the estimated MR effect per method.

Figure 2

Scatter plot of the causal relationship between APOB and DVT. Analyses were conducted using the conventional IVW, weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode and MR‒Egger methods. The slope of each line corresponds to the estimated MR effect per method.

Figure 3

Scatter plot of the causal relationship between LDL and DVT. Analyses were conducted using the conventional IVW, weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode and MR‒Egger methods. The slope of each line corresponds to the estimated MR effect per method.

Figure 4

Scatter plot of the causal relationship between HDL and DVT. Analyses were conducted using the conventional IVW, weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode and MR‒Egger methods. The slope of each line corresponds to the estimated MR effect per method.

Figure 5

Scatter plot of the causal relationship between TGs and DVT. Analyses were conducted using the conventional IVW, weighted median, weighted mode, simple mode and MR‒Egger methods. The slope of each line corresponds to the estimated MR effect per method.