Adiposity and Functional Outcome After Ischemic Stroke

Background and ObjectivesTo investigate the causal relationships of abdominal adiposity (waist-to-hip ratio [WHR]) and overall adiposity (body mass index [BMI]) with functional outcome after ischemic stroke using Mendelian randomization.MethodsGenetic instruments for WHR and BMI were obtained from the largest available genome-wide association studies meta-analysis of the Genetic Investigation of ANthropometric Traits consortium and the UK Biobank (N max = 806,834). Functional outcome after ischemic stroke was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3-month after stroke onset, with mRS >2 (mRS 3–6) defined as an unfavorable functional outcome. Corresponding genetic estimates for an unfavorable functional outcome were extracted from the Genetics of Ischemic Stroke Functional Outcome network (N = 6,021). We applied a random-effects inverse variance weighted method as our main analysis.ResultsGenetically predicted higher WHR (per 0.09 ratio units) was associated with unfavorable functional outcome after ischemic stroke (mRS 3–6, OR = 1.48; 95% CI = 1.03–2.13; p = 0.033). The results remained directionally consistent in sensitivity analyses. Conversely, genetically predicted BMI (per 4.8 kg/m2) was not associated with unfavorable functional outcome after ischemic stroke (OR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.75–1.36; p = 0.937).DiscussionThis study provides genetic evidence supporting the hypothesis that abdominal adiposity has a detrimental effect on functional recovery after ischemic stroke.