A recent study found a significant association between ankylosing spondylitis and the risk of heart failure, indicating a potential genetic link between the two conditions.
In the study, published in Frontiers in Genetics, investigators explored the causal relationship between ankylosing spondylitis and several cardiovascular diseases—including heart failure (HF), atrial fibrillation, coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and valvular heart disease—using a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization methodology. They leveraged genetic data with the goal of inferring causality with a greater robustness than traditional observational studies.
The investigators examined the data of 166,144 participants for ankylosing spondylitis, with 1,462 cases and 164,682 controls. For HF, there were 977,323 participants, comprising 47,309 cases and 930,014 controls. The atrial fibrillation data involved just over 1 million participants, including 60,620 cases and 970,216 controls. For ischemic stroke, the study analyzed 440,328 participants, with 34,217 cases and 406,111 controls. The coronary atherosclerosis group included 361,194 participants, with 14,334 cases and 346,860 controls. The myocardial infarction data included 395,795 participants, consisting of 14,825 cases and 380,970 controls.
The investigators noted that the data were derived from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and various statistical methods were employed to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the results. The GWAS data sources used in the study included the FinnGen database for ankylosing spondylitis and valvular heart disease, the HERMES consortium for HF, a large-scale GWAS meta-analysis for atrial fibrillation, a large-scale GWAS for ischemic stroke, the UK Biobank for coronary atherosclerosis, and a large-scale GWAS for myocardial infarction.
The investigators demonstrated an association between ankylosing spondylitis and an increased risk of HF (odds ratio = 1.0132, 95% confidence interval = 1.0043–1.0221; P = .003). However, no causal relationships were identified between ankylosing spondylitis and other cardiovascular conditions. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings, showing no evidence of reverse causality between ankylosing spondylitis and the cardiovascular diseases examined in the study.
The authors reported no potential conflict of interest.