Relationship between sleep characteristics and aortic aneurysm/dissection: a two-sample Mendelian randomisation study

Area of Science:

• Genetics
• Sleep Medicine
• Cardiovascular Disease

Background:

• The connection between sleep characteristics and aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD) is not well understood.
• Investigating potential causal links is crucial for understanding AAD etiology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential causal relationship between seven sleep-related traits and aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD) using a Mendelian randomization approach.
• To assess genetic evidence for causality between sleep characteristics and AAD.

Main Methods:

• A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study was conducted.
• Seven sleep traits (sleep duration, chronotype, insomnia, snoring, etc.) were analyzed using genetic variants from genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
• Causality was assessed using inverse-variance weighting (IVW) and other MR methods, with sensitivity analyses for pleiotropy and heterogeneity.

Main Results:

• No genetic evidence of a causal relationship was found between any of the seven sleep traits and aortic aneurysm.
• Specific sleep traits examined included sleep duration, chronotype, insomnia, and snoring.
• Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness and reliability of the findings, showing no link to abdominal or thoracic aortic aneurysms or aortic dissection.

Conclusions:

• The study found no genetic evidence supporting a causal link between sleep characteristics and aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD).
• Further large-scale randomized controlled trials are recommended to definitively establish or refute a causal relationship between sleep and AAD.