Evidence of causal effect of major depression on alcohol dependence: Findings from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium

ABSTRACTBackgroundDespite established clinical associations among major depression (MD), alcohol dependence (AD), and alcohol consumption (AC), the nature of the causal relationship between them is not completely understood.MethodsThis study was conducted using genome-wide data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (MD: 135,458 cases and 344,901 controls; AD: 10,206 cases and 28,480 controls) and UK Biobank (AC-Frequency: from “daily or almost daily” to “never”, 438,308 individuals; AC-Quantity: total units of alcohol per week, 307,098 individuals). Linkage disequilibrium score regression and Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses were applied to investigate shared genetic mechanisms (horizontal pleiotropy) and causal relationships (mediated pleiotropy) among these traits.OutcomesPositive genetic correlation was observed between MD and AD (rgMD-AD=+0.47, P=6.6×10-10). AC-Quantity showed positive genetic correlation with both AD (rgAD-AC-Quantity=+0.75, P=1.8×10-14) and MD (rgMD-AC-Quantity=+0.14, P=2.9×10-7), while there was negative correlation of AC-Frequency with MD (rgMD-AC-Frequency=-0.17, P=1.5×10-10) and a non-significant result with AD. MR analyses confirmed the presence of pleiotropy among these traits. However, the MD-AD results reflect a mediated-pleiotropy mechanism (i.e., causal relationship) with a causal role of MD on AD (beta=0.28, P=1.29×10-6) that does not appear to be biased by confounding such as horizontal pleiotropy. No evidence of reverse causation was observed as the AD genetic instrument did not show a causal effect on MD.InterpretationResults support a causal role for MD on AD based on genetic datasets including thousands of individuals. Understanding mechanisms underlying MD-AD comorbidity not only addresses important public health concerns but also has the potential to facilitate prevention and intervention efforts.FundingNational Institute of Mental Health and National Institute on Drug Abuse.Putting data into contextEvidence before this studyWe searched PubMed up to August 24, 2018, for research studies that investigated causality among alcohol-and depression related phenotypes using Mendelian randomization approaches. We used the search terms “alcohol” AND “depression” AND “Mendelian Randomization”. No restrictions were applied to language, date, or article type. Ten articles were retrieved, but only two were focused on alcohol consumption and depression-related traits. The studies were based on genetic variants in alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) genes only, did not find evidence for a causal effect of alcohol consumption on depression phenotypes, with one study finding a causal effect of alcohol consumption on alcoholism. Both studies noted that future studies are needed with increased sample sizes and clinically derived phenotypes. To our knowledge, no previous study has applied two-sample Mendelian randomization to investigate causal relationships between alcohol dependence and major depression.Twin studies show genetic factors influence susceptibility to MD, AD, and alcohol consumption. Differently from observational approaches where several studies have investigated the relationship between alcohol-and depression-related phenotypes, very limited use of molecular genetic data has been applied to investigate this issue. Additionally, the use of genetic information has been shown to be less biased by confounders and reverse causation than observation data. However, genetic approaches, like Mendelian randomization, require large sample sizes to be informative.Added value of this studyIn this study, we used genome-wide data from the Psychiatric Genomic Consortium and UK Biobank, which include information regarding hundred thousands of individuals, to test the presence of shared genetic mechanisms and causal relationships among major depression, alcohol dependence, and alcohol consumption. The results support a causal influence of MD on AD, while alcohol consumption showed shared genetic mechanisms with respect to both major depression and alcohol dependence.Implications of all the available evidenceGiven the significant morbidity and mortality associated with MD, AD, and the comorbid condition, understanding mechanisms underlying these associations not only address important public health concerns but also has the potential to facilitate prevention and intervention efforts.

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Evidence of causal effect of major depression on alcohol dependence: findings from the psychiatric genomics consortium

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291719000667 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 49 (07) ◽

pp. 1218-1226 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Renato Polimanti ◽

Roseann E. Peterson ◽

Jue-Sheng Ong ◽

Stuart MacGregor ◽

Alexis C. Edwards ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Major Depression ◽

Alcohol Dependence ◽

Genetic Correlation ◽

Causal Relationship ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Genome Wide Data ◽

Genetic Mechanisms ◽

Shared Genetic

AbstractBackgroundDespite established clinical associations among major depression (MD), alcohol dependence (AD), and alcohol consumption (AC), the nature of the causal relationship between them is not completely understood. We leveraged genome-wide data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and UK Biobank to test for the presence of shared genetic mechanisms and causal relationships among MD, AD, and AC.MethodsLinkage disequilibrium score regression and Mendelian randomization (MR) were performed using genome-wide data from the PGC (MD: 135 458 cases and 344 901 controls; AD: 10 206 cases and 28 480 controls) and UK Biobank (AC-frequency: 438 308 individuals; AC-quantity: 307 098 individuals).ResultsPositive genetic correlation was observed between MD and AD (rgMD−AD = + 0.47, P = 6.6 × 10−10). AC-quantity showed positive genetic correlation with both AD (rgAD−AC quantity = + 0.75, P = 1.8 × 10−14) and MD (rgMD−AC quantity = + 0.14, P = 2.9 × 10−7), while there was negative correlation of AC-frequency with MD (rgMD−AC frequency = −0.17, P = 1.5 × 10−10) and a non-significant result with AD. MR analyses confirmed the presence of pleiotropy among these four traits. However, the MD-AD results reflect a mediated-pleiotropy mechanism (i.e. causal relationship) with an effect of MD on AD (beta = 0.28, P = 1.29 × 10−6). There was no evidence for reverse causation.ConclusionThis study supports a causal role for genetic liability of MD on AD based on genetic datasets including thousands of individuals. Understanding mechanisms underlying MD-AD comorbidity addresses important public health concerns and has the potential to facilitate prevention and intervention efforts.

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Assessing causality in associations between cannabis use and schizophrenia risk: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291716003172 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 47 (5) ◽

pp. 971-980 ◽

Cited By ~ 82

Author(s):

S. H. Gage ◽

H. J. Jones ◽

S. Burgess ◽

J. Bowden ◽

G. Davey Smith ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fixed Effects ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Positive Control ◽

Negative Control ◽

Study Data ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Genome Wide Data

BackgroundObservational associations between cannabis and schizophrenia are well documented, but ascertaining causation is more challenging. We used Mendelian randomization (MR), utilizing publicly available data as a method for ascertaining causation from observational data.MethodWe performed bi-directional two-sample MR using summary-level genome-wide data from the International Cannabis Consortium (ICC) and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC2). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with cannabis initiation (p < 10−5) and schizophrenia (p < 5 × 10−8) were combined using an inverse-variance-weighted fixed-effects approach. We also used height and education genome-wide association study data, representing negative and positive control analyses.ResultsThere was some evidence consistent with a causal effect of cannabis initiation on risk of schizophrenia [odds ratio (OR) 1.04 per doubling odds of cannabis initiation, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01–1.07, p = 0.019]. There was strong evidence consistent with a causal effect of schizophrenia risk on likelihood of cannabis initiation (OR 1.10 per doubling of the odds of schizophrenia, 95% CI 1.05–1.14, p = 2.64 × 10−5). Findings were as predicted for the negative control (height: OR 1.00, 95% CI 0.99–1.01, p = 0.90) but weaker than predicted for the positive control (years in education: OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.97–1.00, p = 0.066) analyses.ConclusionsOur results provide some that cannabis initiation increases the risk of schizophrenia, although the size of the causal estimate is small. We find stronger evidence that schizophrenia risk predicts cannabis initiation, possibly as genetic instruments for schizophrenia are stronger than for cannabis initiation.

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Trans-ancestral GWAS of alcohol dependence reveals common genetic underpinnings with psychiatric disorders

10.1101/257311 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Raymond K. Walters ◽

Mark J. Adams ◽

Amy E. Adkins ◽

Fazil Aliev ◽

Silviu-Alin Bacanu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Alcohol Dependence ◽

Problem Drinking ◽

Behavioral Outcomes ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Genome Wide Data ◽

Dsm Iv ◽

Family Based ◽

The Relationship

AbstractLiability to alcohol dependence (AD) is heritable, but little is known about its complex polygenic architecture or its genetic relationship with other disorders. To discover loci associated with AD and characterize the relationship between AD and other psychiatric and behavioral outcomes, we carried out the largest GWAS to date of DSM - IV diagnosed AD. Genome - wide data on 14,904 individuals with AD and 37,944 controls from 28 case / control and family - based studies were meta - analyzed, stratified by genetic ancestry (European, N = 46,568; African; N = 6,280). Independent, genome - wide significant effects of different ADH1B variants were identified in European (rs1229984; p = 9.8E - 13) and African ancestries (rs2066702; p = 2.2E - 9). Significant genetic correlations were observed with schizophrenia, ADHD, depression, and use of cigarettes and cannabis. There was only modest genetic correlation with alcohol consumption and inconsistent associations with problem drinking. The genetic underpinnings of AD only partially overlap with those for alcohol consumption, underscoring the genetic distinction between pathological and non - pathological drinking behaviors.

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Educational attainment causally impacts drinking behaviors and risk for alcohol dependence: results from a two-sample Mendelian randomization study in ~ 780,000 study participants

10.1101/557595 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel B. Rosoff ◽

Falk W. Lohoff

Keyword(s):

Alcohol Consumption ◽

Educational Attainment ◽

Alcohol Dependence ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Association Studies ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Reverse Causality ◽

Risky Alcohol ◽

Study Participants

ABSTRACTBackgroundObservational studies suggest that lower educational attainment may be associated with risky alcohol consumption behaviors. However, these findings may be biased by confounding and reverse causality. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR), we can determine whether education is causally related to alcohol consumption behaviors and alcohol dependence (AD).MethodsWe performed two-sample MR using summary statistics from recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in 784,726 study participants to assess the causal effects of educational attainment on alcohol consumption behaviors, including intake frequency, total weekly drinks, beverage preferences, whether alcohol is consumed with meals, as well as AD risk. Of 53 independent (linkage disequilibrium R2=0.001, kb distance<10,000) nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that predict educational attainment, and after removal of palindromes with intermediate allele frequency, 51 were present in the alcohol consumption behaviors, and 44 were present in the AD GWAS. Complementary MR techniques accommodating different assumptions about genetic pleiotropy (inverse variance weighted (IVW), Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode MR) tested the sensitivity of our results.ResultsWe found strong evidence of a causal effect between years of education and alcohol consumption behaviors generally. Higher educational attainment decreased alcohol intake frequency (IVW odds ratio (ORIVW), 0.718, 95% CI, 0.673-0.765, PIVW=4.62E-24), as well as weekly distilled spirits intake (ORIVW, 0.874, 95% CI, 0.833-0.917, PIVW=3.91E-08), and weekly beer plus cider intake (ORIVW, 0.837, 95% CI, 0.805-0.869, P=5.58E-20), but increased weekly white wine (ORIVW, 1.220, 95% CI, 1.172-1.269, PIVW=7.96E-23), red wine (ORIVW, 1.227, 95% CI, 1.174-1.282, PIVW=6.67E-20), and fortified wine intake (ORIVW, 1.051, 95% CI, 1.027-1.075, PIVW] =1.87E-07). We also found evidence educational attainment reduced AD risk (ORIVW.508, 95% CI, .315-.819, PIVW=5.51E-03). We found no evidence for total weekly consumption (ORIVW.508, 95% CI,.315-.819, PIVW=5.51E-03). Consistency of results across complementary MR methods strengthens our causal inferences.ConclusionsOur findings show low educational attainment is causally associated with increased alcohol consumption frequency, increased preference for beer, cider, and spirits, and AD risk, indicating a potential mechanism explaining reported associations between educational attainment and adverse health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease. These findings suggest increased educational attainment might be a useful prevention strategy to reduce risky alcohol behaviors and AD.

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Causal effect of renal function on venous thromboembolism: a two-sample Mendelian randomization investigation

Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis ◽

10.1007/s11239-021-02494-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shuai Yuan ◽

Maria Bruzelius ◽

Susanna C. Larsson

Keyword(s):

Renal Function ◽

Venous Thromboembolism ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Genome Wide Association Studies ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Mr Study

AbstractWhether renal function is causally associated with venous thromboembolism (VTE) is not yet fully elucidated. We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to determine the causal effect of renal function, measured as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), on VTE. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with eGFR were selected as instrumental variables at the genome-wide significance level (p < 5 × 10−8) from a meta-analysis of 122 genome-wide association studies including up to 1,046,070 individuals. Summary-level data for VTE were obtained from the FinnGen consortium (6913 VTE cases and 169,986 non-cases) and UK Biobank study (4620 VTE cases and 356,574 non-cases). MR estimates were calculated using the random-effects inverse-variance weighted method and combined using fixed-effects meta-analysis. Genetically predicted decreased eGFR was significantly associated with an increased risk of VTE in both FinnGen and UK Biobank. For one-unit decrease in log-transformed eGFR, the odds ratios of VTE were 2.93 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25, 6.84) and 4.46 (95% CI 1.59, 12.5) when using data from FinnGen and UK Biobank, respectively. The combined odds ratio was 3.47 (95% CI 1.80, 6.68). Results were consistent in all sensitivity analyses and no horizontal pleiotropy was detected. This MR-study supported a casual role of impaired renal function in VTE.

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Identification of Potential Pleiotropic Genes for Immune and Skeletal Diseases Using Multivariate MetaCCA Analysis

Current Genomics ◽

10.2174/1389202923666211223115214 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 23 ◽

Author(s):

Pei He ◽

Rong- Rong Cao ◽

Fei- Yan Deng ◽

Shu- Feng Lei

Keyword(s):

Association Study ◽

Canonical Correlation ◽

Genetic Factors ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Summary Statistics ◽

Immune Disease ◽

Histocompatibility Complex ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Genetic Mechanisms ◽

Shared Genetic

Background: Immune and skeletal systems physiologically and pathologically interact with each other. The immune and skeletal diseases may share potential pleiotropic genetics factors, but the shared specific genes are largely unknown Objective: This study aimed to investigate the overlapping genetic factors between multiple diseases (including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, sarcopenia and fracture) Methods: The canonical correlation analysis (metaCCA) approach was used to identify the shared genes for six diseases by integrating genome-wide association study (GWAS)-derived summary statistics. Versatile Gene-based Association Study (VEGAS2) method was further applied to refine and validate the putative pleiotropic genes identified by metaCCA. Results: About 157 (p<8.19E-6), 319 (p<3.90E-6) and 77 (p<9.72E-6) potential pleiotropic genes were identified shared by two immune disease, four skeletal diseases, and all of the six diseases, respectively. The top three significant putative pleiotropic genes shared by both immune and skeletal diseases, including HLA-B, TSBP1 and TSBP1-AS1 (p<E-300) were located in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region. Nineteen of 77 putative pleiotropic genes identified by metaCCA analysis were associated with at least one disease in the VEGAS2 analysis. Specifically, majority (18) of these 19 putative validated pleiotropic genes were associated with RA. Conclusion: The metaCCA method identified some pleiotropic genes shared by the immune and skeletal diseases. These findings help to improve our understanding of the shared genetic mechanisms and signaling pathways underlying immune and skeletal diseases.

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Causal Effect Between Total Cholesterol and HDL Cholesterol as Risk Factors for Chronic Kidney Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study

10.21203/rs.3.rs-52857/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Liu Miao ◽

Yan Min ◽

Chuan-Meng Zhu ◽

Jian-Hong Chen ◽

Bin Qi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Total Cholesterol ◽

Serum Lipid ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Hdl Cholesterol ◽

Causal Effects ◽

Lipid Levels ◽

Serum Lipid Levels ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Mr Study

Abstract Background/Aims: While observational studies show an association between serum lipid levels and cardiovascular disease (CVD), intervention studies that examine the preventive eﬀects of serum lipid levels on the development of CKD are lacking. Methods: To estimate the role of serum lipid levels in the etiology of CKD, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study on serum lipid levels. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), which were signiﬁcantly associated genome-wide with plasma serum lipid levels from the GLGC and CKDGen consortium genome-wide association study (GWAS), including total cholesterol (TC, n = 187365), triglyceride (TG, n = 177861), HDL cholesterol (HDL-C, n = 187167), LDL cholesterol (LDL-C, n = 173082), apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1, n = 20687), apolipoprotein B (ApoB, n = 20690) and CKD (n = 117165), were used as instrumental variables. None of the lipid-related SNPs was associated with CKD (all P > 0.05). Results: MR analysis genetically predicted the causal effect between TC/HDL-C and CKD. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% conﬁdence interval (CI) of TC within CKD was 0.756 (0.579 to 0.933) (P = 0.002), and HDL-C was 0.85 (0.687 to 1.012) (P = 0.049). No causal eﬀects between TG, LDL-C- ApoA1, ApoB and CKD were observed. Sensitivity analyses conﬁrmed that TC and HDL-C were signiﬁcantly associated with CKD. Conclusions: The ﬁndings from this MR study indicate causal effects between TC, HDL-C and CKD. Decreased TC and elevated HDL-C may reduce the incidence of CKD but need to be further conﬁrmed by using a genetic and environmental approach.

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Using a Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Method in Assessing the Causal Relationships Between Human Blood Metabolites and Heart Failure

Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine ◽

10.3389/fcvm.2021.695480 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Zixian Wang ◽

Shiyu Chen ◽

Qian Zhu ◽

Yonglin Wu ◽

Guifeng Xu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Human Blood ◽

Large Scale ◽

Genome Wide Association Study ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Blood Metabolites ◽

Causal Relationships

Background: Heart failure (HF) is the main cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and metabolic dysfunction is an important factor related to HF pathogenesis and development. However, the causal effect of blood metabolites on HF remains unclear.Objectives: Our chief aim is to investigate the causal relationships between human blood metabolites and HF risk.Methods: We used an unbiased two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to assess the causal relationships between 486 human blood metabolites and HF risk. Exposure information was obtained from Sample 1, which is the largest metabolome-based genome-wide association study (mGWAS) data containing 7,824 Europeans. Outcome information was obtained from Sample 2, which is based on the results of a large-scale GWAS meta-analysis of HF and contains 47,309 cases and 930,014 controls of Europeans. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) model was used as the primary two-sample MR analysis method and followed the sensitivity analyses, including heterogeneity test, horizontal pleiotropy test, and leave-one-out analysis.Results: We observed that 11 known metabolites were potentially related to the risk of HF after using the IVW method (P < 0.05). After adding another four MR models and performing sensitivity analyses, we found a 1-SD increase in the xenobiotics 4-vinylphenol sulfate was associated with ~22% higher risk of HF (OR [95%CI], 1.22 [1.07–1.38]).Conclusions: We revealed that the 4-vinylphenol sulfate may nominally increase the risk of HF by 22% after using a two-sample MR approach. Our findings may provide novel insights into the pathogenesis underlying HF and novel strategies for HF prevention.

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Smoking, DNA methylation and lung function: a Mendelian randomization analysis to investigate causal relationships

10.1101/19003335 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Emily Jamieson ◽

Roxanna Korologou-Linden ◽

Robyn E. Wootton ◽

Anna L. Guyatt ◽

Thomas Battram ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dna Methylation ◽

Lung Function ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Forced Expiratory Volume ◽

Multiple Trait ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Causal Variants ◽

Association Data ◽

Randomization Analysis

AbstractWhether smoking-associated DNA methylation has a causal effect on lung function has not been thoroughly evaluated. We investigated the causal effects of 474 smoking-associated CpGs on forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) in two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) using methylation quantitative trait loci and genome-wide association data for FEV1. We found evidence of a possible causal effect for DNA methylation on FEV1 at 18 CpGs (p<1.2×10−4). Replication analysis supported a causal effect at three CpGs (cg21201401 (ZGPAT), cg19758448 (PGAP3) and cg12616487 (AHNAK) (p<0.0028). DNA methylation did not clearly mediate the effect of smoking on FEV1, although DNA methylation at some sites may influence lung function via effects on smoking. Using multiple-trait colocalization, we found evidence of shared causal variants between lung function, gene expression and DNA methylation. Findings highlight potential therapeutic targets for improving lung function and possibly smoking cessation, although large, tissue-specific datasets are required to confirm these results.

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Causal Association Between Heart Failure and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Two-Sample Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study

Frontiers in Genetics ◽

10.3389/fgene.2021.772343 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Chenglin Duan ◽

Jingjing Shi ◽

Guozhen Yuan ◽

Xintian Shou ◽

Ting Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heart Failure ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Sensitivity Analysis ◽

Causal Relationship ◽

Observational Studies ◽

Mendelian Randomization ◽

Causal Effect ◽

Causal Relationships ◽

Simple Mode

Background: Traditional observational studies have demonstrated an association between heart failure and Alzheimer’s disease. The strengths of observational studies lie in their speed of implementation, cost, and applicability to rare diseases. However, observational studies have several limitations, such as uncontrollable confounders. Therefore, we employed Mendelian randomization of genetic variants to evaluate the causal relationships existing between AD and HF, which can avoid these limitations.Materials and Methods: A two-sample bidirectional MR analysis was employed. All datasets were results from the UK’s Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit genome-wide association study database, and we conducted a series of control steps to select the most suitable single-nucleotide polymorphisms for MR analysis, for which five primary methods are offered. We reversed the functions of exposure and outcomes to explore the causal direction of HF and AD. Sensitivity analysis was used to conduct several tests to avoid heterogeneity and pleiotropic bias in the MR results.Results: Our MR studies did not support a meaningful causal relationship between AD on HF (MR-Egger, p = 0.634 > 0.05; weighted median (WM), p = 0.337 > 0.05; inverse variance weighted (IVW), p = 0.471 > 0.05; simple mode, p = 0.454 > 0.05; weighted mode, p = 0.401 > 0.05). At the same time, we did not find a significant causal relationship between HF and AD with four of the methods (MR-Egger, p = 0.195 > 0.05; IVW, p = 0.0879 > 0.05; simple mode, p = 0.170 > 0.05; weighted mode, p = 0.110 > 0.05), but the WM method indicated a significant effect of HF on AD (p = 0.025 < 0.05). Because the statistical powers of IVW and MR-Egger are more than that of WM, we think that there is no causal effect of HF on AD. Sensitivity analysis and horizontal pleiotropy were not detected in the MR analysis.Conclusion: Our results did not provide significant evidence indicating any causal relationships between HF and AD in the European population. Therefore, more large-scale datasets or datasets related to similar factors are expected for further MR analysis.

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