Causal association between cardiovascular diseases and erectile dysfunction, a Mendelian randomization study

Qingying Li; Qiang Long; Baoming Ren; Sen Bing

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2023.1094330

Causal association between cardiovascular diseases and erectile dysfunction, a Mendelian randomization study

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2023 Feb 9:10:1094330. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2023.1094330. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Qingying Li¹, Qiang Long¹, Baoming Ren¹, Sen Bing²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Urology, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China.
² Department of Cardiology, Xi'an No.3 Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Northwest University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China.

Abstract

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD), including coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure, ischemic heart disease (IHD), and atrial fibrillation, are prevalent in the aged. However, the influence of CVD on ED is less investigated. This study was performed to clarify the causal association between CVD and ED.

Materials and methods: Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) datasets targeting CHD, heart failure, IHD, and atrial fibrillation were downloaded to retrieve single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Further, single-variable Mendelian randomization and multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR) were adopted to explore the causal association between CVD and ED.

Results: Genetically predicted CHD and heart failure were found to increase the risks of ED (OR = 1.09, P < 0.05 and OR = 1.36, P < 0.05, respectively). However, no causal association was disclosed among IHD, atrial fibrillation and ED (all P > 0.05). These findings remained consistent in sensitivity analyses. After controlling for body mass index, alcohol, low density lipoprotein, smoking and total cholesterol levels, the results of MVMR support the causal role of CHD on ED (P < 0.05). Similarly, the direct causal effect estimates of heart failure on ED were significant in MVMR analyses (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Using genetic data, this study revealed that genetically predicted CHD and heart failure may predict better ED compared with atrial fibrillation and IHD. The results should be interpreted with caution and the insignificant causal inference of IHD still needs further verification in future studies.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization; cardiovascular disease increases the risks of erectile dysfunction atrial fibrillation; coronary heart disease; erectile dysfunction; heart failure; ischemic heart disease.