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Exploring the Two-Way Link between Migraines and Venous Thromboembolism: A Bidirectional Two-Sample Mendelian
Yang Wang1, Xiaofang Hu2, Xiaoqing Wang3
1Vascular Surgery, Shandong Public Health Clinical Center, Shandong University, Jinan, China.
Thrombosis and Haemostasis
|April 24, 2024
Summary
This study found that migraine is a significant risk factor for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). Conversely, venous thromboembolism (VTE) appears to be a weaker risk factor for migraine, suggesting a bidirectional causal link.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Epidemiology
- Cardiovascular Research
Background:
- Observational studies show inconsistent links between migraine and venous thromboembolism (VTE).
- Previous research lacks clarity on the potential bidirectional causality between these two conditions.
- Genetic factors may play a role in the relationship between migraine and VTE.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mutual causality between migraine and venous thromboembolism (VTE) using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach.
- To address inconsistencies in prior observational studies regarding the migraine-VTE relationship.
- To clarify the directionality of the causal link between migraine and VTE.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a bidirectional Mendelian randomization design.
- Employed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables in participants of European descent.
- Applied inverse-variance weighted (IVW) regression with random-effects, alongside MR-Egger regression and leave-one-out analysis for robustness.
Main Results:
- Migraine was identified as a strong causal risk factor for developing VTE (OR = 96.155, p = 0.004).
- VTE was found to be a weaker causal risk factor for migraine (IVW OR = 1.002, p = 0.016).
- Genetic pleiotropy was absent, and sensitivity analyses confirmed the reliability of the findings.
Conclusions:
- This Mendelian randomization study provides evidence for a reciprocal causal association between migraine and VTE.
- The findings support that migraine increases the risk of VTE, and VTE also influences migraine risk.
- The results are specific to the European population studied.
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