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Migraine and white matter lesions: a mendelian randomization study
Junyan Huo1, Gan Zhang1, Wenjing Wang1
1Department of Neurology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49, North Garden Rd., Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
Scientific Reports
|July 6, 2023
Summary
This study investigated the causal link between white matter lesions (WMLs) and migraine using Mendelian randomization. Findings indicate no significant bidirectional causal relationship between WMLs and migraine.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Genetics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Migraine is frequently associated with white matter lesions (WMLs).
- The etiological relationship between migraine and WMLs remains unclear.
- Understanding this relationship is crucial for clinical management and research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bidirectional causal relationship between migraine and WMLs.
- To determine if WMLs increase migraine risk or if migraine increases WML risk.
- To leverage large-scale genetic data for robust causal inference.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
- Employed summary-level data from large genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
- Analyzed three white matter phenotypes (WMH, FA, MD) and migraine, applying inverse variance-weighted (IVW), weighted median, simple median, and MR-Egger regression methods.
Main Results:
- No evidence of a causal effect of WMLs on migraine was found across all applied MR methods.
- No evidence of a causal effect of migraine on WMLs was found.
- The bidirectional MR analysis did not support a causal link in either direction.
Conclusions:
- The study provides no support for a causal relationship between white matter lesions and migraine.
- Migraine does not appear to increase the risk of developing WMLs.
- WMLs do not appear to cause or increase the risk of migraine.
