Evidence from observational studies suggests that chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, results have been inconsistent and causality remains to be established. We utilized two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to investigate potential causal associations between CHB and CVD, including atherosclerosis, coronary heart disease, hypertension, and ischemic stroke.
The analysis was conducted through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), considering chronic hepatitis B as the exposure and cardiovascular disease as the endpoint. The primary method for evaluating causality in this analysis was the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) technique. Additionally, we employed the weighted median, MR-Egger regression, weighted mode, and simple mode methods for supplementary analyses. Finally, heterogeneity tests, sensitivity analyses, and multiple effects analyses were conducted.
In a random-effects IVW analysis, we found that genetic susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B was associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis [OR = 1.048, 95% CI (1.022–1.075),
Our research indicates that chronic hepatitis B has a correlation with an elevated risk of developing atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease, while it is associated with a decreased risk of experiencing an ischemic stroke.