Causal association of chronic diseases with herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Abstract Background The incidence of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia is higher in people with compromised immune function. This study aimed to explore whether there is a causal correlation between different types of chronic diseases and herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Methods Phenotypic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with chronic diseases (obesity, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, asthma, hyperlipidemia, depression, stroke, ischemic stroke, coronary heart disease, and chronic kidney disease) and herpes zoster were obtained from publicly available databases or published genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and used as genetic instrumental variables. SNPs were examined for strength, horizontal pleiotropy, and heterogeneity. The results of MR were based on inverse variance weighted (IVW) analysis and expressed as odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Our findings demonstrated that genetically predicted ischemic stroke [IVW: OR = 1.420 (95%CI: 1.044–1.933), P = 0.0256] increased the risk of herpes zoster. Furthermore, genetically predicted obesity [IVW: OR = 1.851 (95%CI: 1.058–3.239), P = 0.0311] and type 2 diabetes [IVW: OR = 1.685 (95%CI: 1.023–2.775), P = 0.0404] were associated with an increased risk of postherpetic neuralgia. No significant causal relationship was observed between genetically predicted other chronic diseases and the risk of herpes zoster and postherpetic neuralgia (P > 0.05). Conclusion This study found a causality for ischemic stroke-herpes zoster, obesity- postherpetic neuralgia, and type 2 diabetes-postherpetic neuralgia.