{Reference Type}: Journal Article
{Title}: Estimated bone mineral density and white matter hyperintensities: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.
{Author}: Li X;Wu X;Zhou G;Mo D;Lin X;Wang P;Zeng Y;Luo M;
{Journal}: Bone
{Volume}: 187
{Issue}: 0
{Year}: 2024 Jun 22
{Factor}: 4.626
{DOI}: 10.1016/j.bone.2024.117138
{Abstract}: <B>OBJECTIVE: </B>Greater white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in older adults have been associated with reduced bone mineral density (BMD) and increased fractures and falls. However, it is unclear whether there is a causal relationship between BMD reduction and WMH. In this study, Mendelian randomization (MR) was used to find the causality between WMH and estimated BMD (eBMD).<BR><B>METHODS: </B>We performed a two-sample bidirectional MR analysis using statistical data obtained from publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The main method of MR analysis is the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method. To identify and account for the impact of horizontal pleiotropy, we also employed MR-Egger regression, MR pleiotropy residual sum, and outlier (MR-PRESSO).<BR><B>RESULTS: </B>MR analysis found a causal relationship between eBMD and WMH (IVW OR = 0.938, 95 % CI: 0.889-0.990, p = 0.020). Our causal estimates are unlikely to be distorted by horizontal pleiotropy according to heterogeneity test (both p > 0.05) and MR-Egger regression (p > 0.05). However, in the reverse MR analysis, there was no evidence that WMH was causally correlated with eBMD (IVW OR = 0.979, 95 % CI: 0.954-1.005, p = 0.109).<BR><B>CONCLUSIONS: </B>Our results suggest that low eBMD increased the risk of WMH; conversely, no evidence that WMH causally affects eBMD was found.