Observational studies have revealed that socioeconomic status is associated with neurological disorders and aging. However, the potential causal effect between the two remains unclear. We therefore aimed to investigate the causal relationship between household income status and genetic susceptibility to neurological diseases using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) study.
An MR study was conducted on a large-sample cohort of the European population pulled from a publicly available genome-wide association study dataset, using a random-effects inverse-variance weighting model as the main standard. MR-Egger regression, weighted median, and maximum likelihood estimation were also performed concurrently as supplements. A sensitivity analysis, consisting of a heterogeneity test and horizontal pleiotropy test, was performed using Cochran’s Q, MR-Egger intercept, and MR-PRESSO tests to ensure the reliability of the conclusion.
The results suggested that higher household income tended to lower the risk of genetic susceptibility to Alzheimer’s disease (odds ratio [OR]: 0.740, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.559–0.980,
Our results revealed that the populations with a superior household income exhibit an increased predisposition of genetic susceptibility to Parkinson’s Disease, while demonstrating a potential decreased genetic susceptibility to ischemic stroke and Alzheimer’s disease.