Causal associations and shared genetics between hypertension and COVID‐19

Abstract

AbstractTo evaluate the genetic relationship between hypertension and COVID‐19 and explore the molecular pathways linking hypertension to COVID‐19. We performed genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess potential associations between hypertension and hospitalized COVID‐19. We compared genome‐wide association signals to reveal shared genetic variation between hypertension and hospitalized COVID‐19. Moreover, hypertension‐driven molecular pathways were constructed based on large‐scale literature data to understand the influence of hypertension on COVID‐19 at the molecular level. Hypertension has a positive genetic correlation with COVID‐19 (rg = 0.19). The MR analyses indicate that genetic liability to hypertension confers a causal effect on hospitalized COVID‐19 (odds ratio [OR]: 1.05, confidence interval [CI]: 1.00–1.09, p = 0.030). Hypertension and hospitalized COVID‐19 have three overlapping loci and share eight protein‐coding risk genes, including ABO, CSF2, FUT2, IZUMO1, MAMSTR, NPNT, RASIP1, and WNT3. Molecular pathway analysis suggests that hypertension may promote the development of COVID‐19 through the induction of inflammatory pathways. Our study suggests that genetically determined hypertension may increase the risk for severe COVID‐19. The shared genetic variation and the connecting molecular pathways may underline causal links between hypertension and COVID‐19.