Causal Association of Circulating Cholesterol Levels with Dementia: a Mendelian Randomization Meta-Analysis
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Zhang et al. Translational Psychiatry (2020) 10:145 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0822-x Translational Psychiatry ARTICLE Open Access Causal association of circulating cholesterol levels with dementia: a mendelian randomization meta-analysis Xiaoyu Zhang1, Qiuyue Tian1,DiLiu1,TaoGeng2,XizhuXu3,SiqiGe4, Deqiang Zheng1, Lijuan Wu1, Manshu Song1, Haifeng Hou3,WeiWang 5 and Youxin Wang 1 Abstract Prospective studies have shown that abnormally circulating cholesterol is associated with the risk of dementia. However, whether the association is causal or not remains unclear. We attempt to infer the causal association in a MR meta-analysis by using ApoE gene polymorphisms as instrument variables. Studies with dementia risk (27 studies) or circulating lipid levels (7 studies) were included, with totally 3136 dementia patients and 3103 healthy controls. The analyses showed that carriers of ε2 allele significantly were of decreased risk of AD (OR = 0.70; 95% CI: 0.58–0.84; P < 0.01), whereas carriers of ε4 allele were of increased risk of AD (OR = 3.62; 95% CI: 3.03–4.32; P < 0.05), compared to these of ε3 allele. Circulating TC was significantly reduced in carriers of ε2 allele (WMD = − 0.29 mmol/L; 95% CI: −0.54 to −0.03; P < 0.05) and increased in carriers of ε4 allele (WMD = 0.42 mmol/l; 95% CI: 0.001–0.84; P < 0.05). In addition, carriers of ε4 allele had reduction in circulating HDL-C (WMD = − 0.04 mmol/L; 95% CI: − 0.07 to −0.001; P < 0.05). In comparing allele ε2 with ε3, the predicted OR of having AD for 1 mg/dL increment in circulating TC was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.86–0.98; P < 0.05). Comparing allele ε4 with ε3, the predicted OR for a 1 mg/dL increment in TC was 1.08 (95% CI: – – fi 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; 1234567890():,; 1.05 17.58; P < 0.05), and reduction in HDL-C was 2.30 (95% CI: 1.51 43.99; P < 0.05). Our ndings demonstrate that high circulating TC and reduced HDL-C levels might be potential risk factors of the development of AD. Introduction Some prospective studies have revealed that circulating Dementia is a syndrome caused by a variety of brain lipid abnormalities are independent indicators of the – illnesses that have adverse impact on memory, thinking, development of dementia3 7. In addition, dyslipidemia is a behavior and the ability to perform daily activities. Alz- risk factor for vascular diseases, which is clearly associated heimer’s disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) with VaD and AD8. High total cholesterol (TC) levels account for more than 90% of the dementia cases1. The were found to be positively associated with the risk of AD number of dementia patients currently is 47 million and in a dose–response manner9, while higher high-density estimated to 75 million by 2030 in globe2. The increasing lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) (>55 mg/dL) resulted in burden of dementia emphasizes the necessity to identify decreased risk of AD10. However, confounding factors risk factors underlying prevention of dementia. such as age and sex may also explain some of the observed associations, suggesting that the value is susceptible to confounding. Differences in the amino acid sequence of apolipopro- Correspondence: Youxin Wang ([email protected]) tein E (ApoE) are major determinants of plasma choles- 1Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, terol levels within a population level. ApoE has a key role Beijing Municipal Key Laboratory of Clinical Epidemiology, Capital Medical in the clearance of cholesterol from plasma11. It has been University, Beijing 100069, China 2Geriatric Department, Emergency General Hospital, Beijing 100028, China estimated that nearly 60% of circulating cholesterol Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s) 2020 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a linktotheCreativeCommons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Zhang et al. Translational Psychiatry (2020) 10:145 Page 2 of 8 variation is under genetic control and thereout 14% var- was conducted independently by the two authors. The iation is ascribed to ApoE genetic defects12. The synthesis discrepancy was adjudicated by a discussion with the third of ApoE is controlled by three independent alleles such as author (Di Liu). ε2, ε3 and ε4, corresponding to 6 ApoE genotypes (ε2ε2, ε3ε2, ε4ε2, ε3ε3, ε4ε3 and ε4ε4)13. Genotypes ε4/ε4 and Inclusion and exclusion criteria ε4/ε3 are associated with high cholesterol concentration The literatures that met the following criteria were – in blood14 17. In addition, polymorphisms of the ApoE included in the meta-analysis: 1) detailed allele or geno- gene have been studied extensively in the context of a type counts of ApoE ε2/ε3/ε4 gene polymorphism should variety of clinical endpoints such as hypercholester- be available between dementia patients and controls in olemia18,19, ischemic heart disease20,21, stroke22 and case-control studies (including nested case-control stu- hypertension23,24. dies); 2) the mean or median values (standard deviations) In the absence of trials, genetic studies can be used to on TC, HDL-C, LDL-C and triglyceride (TG) levels were help evaluate causality. This approach is known as Men- found across ApoE gene ε2/ε3/ε4 alleles or genotypes in delian randomization (MR) which can be used to assess case-control (including nested case-control) or cohort gene-related risk factors for causal associations with studies. clinical outcomes. MR analyses are based on Mendel’s The exclusion criteria were as follows: 1) studies that observation that inheritance of one trait should be inde- examined the progression, severity or response to treat- pendent of the inheritance of other traits25. To test this ment of dementia in association with ApoE gene ε2/ε3/ε4 hypothesis and provide an unbiased estimation of the polymorphism or a lack of healthy controls; 2) case causality, MR meta-analysis was used to assess the caus- reports or series, editorials, narrative or systematic ality between circulating lipid profiles and the risk of reviews, conference abstracts or proceedings and non- dementia. English articles. Materials and Methods Literature quality assessment The present meta-analysis was undertaken in accor- The Newcastle–Ottawa Scale was used to assess the dance with the guidelines formulated in the Preferred methodological quality of the included studies27. For case- Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta- control studies, this comprised the determination of (1) analyses (PRISMA) statement26. adequate case definition, (2) representativeness of cases, (3) selection of control, (4) definition of control, (5) Search strategy for qualified studies comparability of case and control groups, (6) exposure, (7) To identify all relevant articles that addressed the whether there were identical exposure methods for cases associations of ApoE gene ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphism with and controls, and (8) non-response rate. For cohort stu- dementia or circulating lipid changes, we systematically dies, this comprised the determination of (1) representa- searched PubMed and the Excerpta Medica database tiveness of the exposed cohort, (2) selection of the (EMBASE) for literature in the English language. For the unexposed cohort, (3) exposure, (4) whether the study research strategy, logic based on specific descriptors was subjects had an ending event that occurred before the adopted (English language) in combination with Boolean study began, (5) comparability of the cohorts, (6) eva- operators (and/or), with the aid of parentheses to define luation of the ending event, (7) whether follow-up was intercalation within the same logic and the quotation sufficient, and (8) integrity of follow-up examinations. marks to identify the compound words. The search was Each item that met one of the above-mentioned criteria conducted using the following search terms: (APOE, was represented by ∗, and each ∗ was equivalent to 1 “Apolipoprotein E” or “apo-E”) and (polymorphism, allele, point, giving a potential total of 9 points. Higher scores variant, variation, genotype, mutation, SNP or isoforms) indicated higher quality studies. Moreover, studies with a and (dementia, “Alzheimer*” or “vascular dementia”) and score of 6 points and above were included in the present (“lipid profile”, “total cholesterol”, triglyceride, triacylgly- meta-analysis. cerol, “high-density lipoprotein cholesterol”, “low-density lipoprotein cholesterol”, TC, “HDL-C”, “LDL-C” or TG). Extracted information All selected articles were written in English and published Data including the first author’s last name, publication before 20 June 2019. In addition, we manually scrutinized year, ethnicity, dementia subtype, sample size, allele the reference list of eligible literature. counts of ApoE gene ε2/ε3/ε4 polymorphisms between The titles and abstracts of all retrieved articles were read dementia patients and controls, the mean or median independently by two authors (Xiaoyu Zhang and Qiuyue (standard deviation) values of TC, TG, HDL-C and LDL- Tian). For articles that could not be ascertained, the full C levels across ApoE gene ε2/ε3/ε4 carriers were extracted text and supplementary data were reviewed. The process independently from each qualified study by two Zhang et al.