Genetic predisposition to COVID-19 may increase the risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study

The aim of this study was to apply the Mendelian randomization (MR) design to explore the potential causal association between COVID-19 and the risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy.

Our primary genetic instrument comprised 8 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with COVID-19 at genome-wide significance. Data on the associations between the SNPs and the risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy were obtained from study based on a very large cohort of European population. The random-effects inverse-variance weighted method was conducted for the main analyses, with a complementary analysis of the weighted median and MR-Egger approaches.

Using IVW, we found that genetically predicted COVID-19 was significantly positively associated with hypertension disorders in pregnancy, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.111 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.042-1.184; P = 0.001]. Weighted median regression also showed directionally similar estimates [OR 1.098 (95% CI, 1.013-1.190), P = 0.023]. Both funnel plots and MR-Egger intercepts suggest no directional pleiotropic effects observed.

Our findings provide direct evidence that there is a shared genetic predisposition so that patients infected with COVID-19 may be causally associated with increased risk of hypertension disorders in pregnancy.