Association evaluations of oral anticoagulants with dementia risk based on genomic and real-world data

Abstract

Background: Several observational studies have suggested that oral anticoagulants (OACs) might reduce the risk of dementia in the elderly, but the evidence is inconclusive. And the consistency of this relationship across different OAC classes and dementia subtypes is still uncertain.

Methods: To comprehensively evaluate this association, we applied Mendelian randomization (MR) combined with pharmacovigilance analysis. MR was used to assess the associations between genetic proxies for three target genes of OACs (VKORC1, F2, and F10) and dementia, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD). This genetic analysis was supplemented with real-world pharmacovigilance data, employing disproportionality analysis for more reliable causal inference.

Results: Increased expression of the VKORC1 gene was strongly associated with increased risk of dementia, especially for AD (OR = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.14-1.43; p value < 0.001). Based on pharmacovigilance data, vitamin K antagonists (VKAs, inhibitors targeting VKORC1) exhibited a protective effect against dementia risk (ROR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.28-0.67). Additional sensitivity analyses, including different MR models and cohorts, supported these results. Conversely, no strong causal associations of genetically proxied F2 and F10 target genes with dementia and its subtypes were found.

Conclusions: This study reveals that the inhibition of genetically proxied VKORC1 expression or VKAs exposure is associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's dementia. However, there is little evidence to support similar associations with direct oral anticoagulants (F2 inhibitors and F10 inhibitors). Further research is warranted to clinically validate our findings.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Dementia; Mendelian randomization; Oral anticoagulants; Pharmacovigilance.