Myocardial infarction and stroke risks in multiple sclerosis patients: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Observational studies indicated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may have a higher risk of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke than the general population, whereas the previously reported findings were inconsistent. Using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis with genetic data from large-scale genome-wide association studies (International Multiple Sclerosis Genetics Consortium containing 14,498 MS cases, Coronary ARtery DIsease Genome wide Replication and Meta-analysis plus The Coronary Artery Disease Genetics consortium containing 43,676 MI cases and 40,585 stroke cases), we found that MS was causally associated with an increased risk of MI (OR = 1.03; 95%CI 1.00-1.06; P = 0.0243), directionally consistent in the weighted median, MR-Egger, and the MR-PRESSO methods. No causal association between MS and stroke was observed (OR = 1.01; 95%CI 0.99-1.04; P = 0.2974). Therefore, timelier and more effective measures should be conducted among MS patients to decrease the burden of both diseases.