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Ward-Caviness CK, de Vries PS, Wiggins KL, Huffman JE, Yanek LR, Bielak LF, Giulianini F, Guo X, Kleber ME, Kacprowski T, Groß S, Petersman A, Davey Smith G, Hartwig FP, Bowden J, Hemani G, Müller-Nuraysid M, Strauch K, Koenig W, Waldenberger M, Meitinger T, Pankratz N, Boerwinkle E, Tang W, Fu YP, Johnson AD, Song C, de Maat MPM, Uitterlinden AG, Franco OH, Brody JA, McKnight B, Chen YDI, Psaty BM, Mathias RA, Becker DM, Peyser PA, Smith JA, Bielinski SJ, Ridker PM, Taylor KD, Yao J, Tracy R, Delgado G, Trompet S, Sattar N, Jukema JW, Becker LC, Kardia SLR, Rotter JI, März W, Dörr M, Chasman DI, Dehghan A, O’Donnell CJ, Smith NL, Peters A, Morrison AC. Mendelian randomization evaluation of causal effects of fibrinogen on incident coronary heart disease. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0216222. [PMID: 31075152 PMCID: PMC6510421 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0216222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fibrinogen is an essential hemostatic factor and cardiovascular disease risk factor. Early attempts at evaluating the causal effect of fibrinogen on coronary heart disease (CHD) and myocardial infraction (MI) using Mendelian randomization (MR) used single variant approaches, and did not take advantage of recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) or multi-variant, pleiotropy robust MR methodologies. METHODS AND FINDINGS We evaluated evidence for a causal effect of fibrinogen on both CHD and MI using MR. We used both an allele score approach and pleiotropy robust MR models. The allele score was composed of 38 fibrinogen-associated variants from recent GWAS. Initial analyses using the allele score used a meta-analysis of 11 European-ancestry prospective cohorts, free of CHD and MI at baseline, to examine incidence CHD and MI. We also applied 2 sample MR methods with data from a prevalent CHD and MI GWAS. Results are given in terms of the hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR), depending on the study design, and associated 95% confidence interval (CI). In single variant analyses no causal effect of fibrinogen on CHD or MI was observed. In multi-variant analyses using incidence CHD cases and the allele score approach, the estimated causal effect (HR) of a 1 g/L higher fibrinogen concentration was 1.62 (CI = 1.12, 2.36) when using incident cases and the allele score approach. In 2 sample MR analyses that accounted for pleiotropy, the causal estimate (OR) was reduced to 1.18 (CI = 0.98, 1.42) and 1.09 (CI = 0.89, 1.33) in the 2 most precise (smallest CI) models, out of 4 models evaluated. In the 2 sample MR analyses for MI, there was only very weak evidence of a causal effect in only 1 out of 4 models. CONCLUSIONS A small causal effect of fibrinogen on CHD is observed using multi-variant MR approaches which account for pleiotropy, but not single variant MR approaches. Taken together, results indicate that even with large sample sizes and multi-variant approaches MR analyses still cannot exclude the null when estimating the causal effect of fibrinogen on CHD, but that any potential causal effect is likely to be much smaller than observed in epidemiological studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cavin K. Ward-Caviness
- Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Paul S. de Vries
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Human Genetics Center, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States of America
| | - Kerri L. Wiggins
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Jennifer E. Huffman
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Framingham, MA, United States of America
- The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States of America
| | - Lisa R. Yanek
- GeneSTAR Research Program, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Lawrence F. Bielak
- Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Franco Giulianini
- Division of Preventative Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Xiuqing Guo
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, LABioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, United States of America
| | - Marcus E. Kleber
- Vth Department of Medicine (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology, Diabetology, Rheumatology), Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
- Institute of Nutrition, Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany
| | - Tim Kacprowski
- Department of Functional Genomics, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, University Medicine and Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, Griefswald, Germany
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Research Group Computational Systems Medicine, Chair of Experimental Bioinformatics, TUM School of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Freising-Weihenstephan, Germany
| | - Stefan Groß
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine B, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Astrid Petersman
- Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, University of Medicine Griefswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, Greifswald, Germany
| | - George Davey Smith
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Fernando P. Hartwig
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
- Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil
| | - Jack Bowden
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Gibran Hemani
- Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Martina Müller-Nuraysid
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
- Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Konstantin Strauch
- Institute of Genetic Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Medicine I, University Hospital Grosshadern, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Chair of Genetic Epidemiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Koenig
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine II, University of Ulm Medical Center, Ulm, Germany
- Deutsches Herzzentrum München, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Melanie Waldenberger
- Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- Research Unit of Molecular Epidemiology, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Thomas Meitinger
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- Institute of Human Genetics, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Nathan Pankratz
- University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | - Eric Boerwinkle
- Human Genetics Center, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States of America
- Human Genome Sequencing Center, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, United States of America
| | - Weihong Tang
- University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN, United States of America
| | - Yi-Ping Fu
- Office of Biostatistics Research, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America
| | - Andrew D. Johnson
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Framingham, MA, United States of America
- The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States of America
| | - Ci Song
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Framingham, MA, United States of America
- The Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, United States of America
| | - Moniek P. M. de Maat
- Department of Hematology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, CND, Netherlands
| | - André G. Uitterlinden
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, CN, Netherlands
| | - Oscar H. Franco
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Jennifer A. Brody
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Barbara McKnight
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Yii-Der Ida Chen
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, LABioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, United States of America
| | - Bruce M. Psaty
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- Group Health Research Institute, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Rasika A. Mathias
- GeneSTAR Research Program, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
- Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Diane M. Becker
- GeneSTAR Research Program, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Patricia A. Peyser
- Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Jennifer A. Smith
- Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Suzette J. Bielinski
- Department of Epidemiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States of America
| | - Paul M. Ridker
- Division of Preventative Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Kent D. Taylor
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, LABioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, United States of America
| | - Jie Yao
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, LABioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, United States of America
| | - Russell Tracy
- Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Vermont College of Medicine, Col Research Facility, Burlington, VT, United States of America
| | - Graciela Delgado
- Vth Department of Medicine (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology, Diabetology, Rheumatology), Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Stella Trompet
- Department of Hematology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, CND, Netherlands
- Department of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Naveed Sattar
- BHF Glasgow Cardiovascular Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - J. Wouter Jukema
- Department of Cardiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Lewis C. Becker
- GeneSTAR Research Program, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
- Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, N. Broadway, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Sharon L. R. Kardia
- Epidemiology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America
| | - Jerome I. Rotter
- Institute for Translational Genomics and Population Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, LABioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, CA, United States of America
| | - Winfried März
- Vth Department of Medicine (Nephrology, Hypertensiology, Endocrinology, Diabetology, Rheumatology), Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany
- Synlab Academy, Synlab Holding Deutschland GmbH, Mannheim, Germany
- Clinical Institute of Medical and Chemical Laboratory Diagnostics, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Marcus Dörr
- DZHK (German Centre for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine B, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Daniel I. Chasman
- Division of Preventative Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States of America
| | - Abbas Dehghan
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, United Kingdom
| | - Christopher J. O’Donnell
- Population Sciences Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Framingham, MA, United States of America
- Cardiology Section Administration, Boston VA Healthcare System, West Roxbury, MA, United States of America
| | - Nicholas L. Smith
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Health Sciences Bldg, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- Group Health Research Institute, Group Health Cooperative, Seattle, WA, United States of America
- Seattle Epidemiologic Research and Information Center, Department of Veteran Affairs Office of Research and Development, Columbian Way, Seattle, WA, United States of America
| | - Annette Peters
- Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München—German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
- DZHK (German Center for Cardiovascular Research), partner site Munich Heart Alliance, Munich, Germany
| | - Alanna C. Morrison
- Human Genetics Center, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States of America
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