Assessment of causal association between thyroid function and lipid metabolism: a Mendelian randomization study.
10.1097/CM9.0000000000001505
- VernacularTitle:Assessment of causal association between thyroid function and lipid metabolism: a Mendelian randomization study
- Author:
Jing-Jia WANG
1
;
Zhen-Huang ZHUANG
2
;
Chun-Li SHAO
1
;
Can-Qing YU
2
;
Wen-Yao WANG
1
;
Kuo ZHANG
1
;
Xiang-Bin MENG
1
;
Jun GAO
1
;
Jian TIAN
1
;
Ji-Lin ZHENG
1
;
Tao HUANG
2
;
Yi-Da TANG
3
Author Information
1. Department of Cardiology, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, Fuwai Hospital, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100037, China.
2. Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China.
3. Department of Cardiology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China.
- Publication Type:Randomized Controlled Trial
- MeSH:
Lipid Metabolism/genetics*;
Mendelian Randomization Analysis;
Thyroid Function Tests;
Thyroid Gland;
Thyrotropin;
Thyroxine;
Triiodothyronine
- From:
Chinese Medical Journal
2021;134(9):1064-1069
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND:Thyroid dysfunction is associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, the role of thyroid function in lipid metabolism remains partly unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the causal association between thyroid function and serum lipid metabolism via a genetic analysis termed Mendelian randomization (MR).
METHODS:The MR approach uses a genetic variant as the instrumental variable in epidemiological studies to mimic a randomized controlled trial. A two-sample MR was performed to assess the causal association, using summary statistics from the Atrial Fibrillation Genetics Consortium (n = 537,409) and the Global Lipids Genetics Consortium (n = 188,577). The clinical measures of thyroid function include thyrotropin (TSH), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels, FT3:FT4 ratio and concentration of thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPOAb). The serum lipid metabolism traits include total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. The MR estimate and MR inverse variance-weighted method were used to assess the association between thyroid function and serum lipid metabolism.
RESULTS:The results demonstrated that increased TSH levels were significantly associated with higher TC (β = 0.052, P = 0.002) and LDL (β = 0.041, P = 0.018) levels. In addition, the FT3:FT4 ratio was significantly associated with TC (β = 0.240, P = 0.033) and LDL (β = 0.025, P = 0.027) levels. However, no significant differences were observed between genetically predicted FT4 and TPOAb and serum lipids.
CONCLUSION:Taken together, the results of the present study suggest an association between thyroid function and serum lipid metabolism, highlighting the importance of the pituitary-thyroid-cardiac axis in dyslipidemia susceptibility.
