Genetic Predisposition to Severe COVID-19 Might Increase the Risk of Stroke: A Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Aims: The causal relationship between COVID-19 infection and stroke has not yet been fully established. This study aimed to explore this causality using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR). Materials and Methods: Genetic variants associated with COVID-19 infection and stroke were both obtained from genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data. The single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected as instrumental variables. The standard inverse variance weighted (IVW) was primarily used to assess this causality. Finally, sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the reliability and stability. Results: The results showed that being hospitalized due to COVID-19 had a positive effect on stroke [OR = 1.05; 95% CI= (1.01, 1.10); p = 2.34 × 10^-5] and ischemic stroke [OR = 1.06; 95% CI= (1.02, 1.11); p = 2.28 × 10^-6] analyzed by inverse variance weighted. Moreover, the results revealed that severe respiratory symptoms due to COVID-19 had a positive effect on stroke [OR = 1.04; 95% CI= (1.00, 1.06); p = 0.04] and that the causal effect of severe respiratory symptoms due to COVID-19 on ischemic stroke estimated by IVW suggested a positive effect [OR = 1.06; 95% CI= (1.02, 1.09); p = 0.0068], too. Conclusion: In summary, this study showed that severe COVID-19 might increase the risk of stroke, thus much more attention should be paid to patients with severe COVID-19.