Mendelian randomization study on the causal effect of chickenpox on dementia

Some viruses, such as varicella zoster virus, are associated with severe dementia. The present study aims to identify the causal link between chickenpox and dementia. To date, the largest publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) for chickenpox (710 cases and 211856 controls from European individuals) and for dementia (5933 cases and 212859 controls from European individuals) were used to performed this two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study. We found no significant pleiotropy or heterogeneity in all seven selected chickenpox genetic instrumental variants in dementia GWAS. Of seven chickenpox genetic variants, two are located in the intergenic region and five are located in intron. We found that as chickenpox genetically increased, dementia risk increased based on an inverse-variance weighted analysis (beta = 0.070, 95% confidence interval [CI] for beta: 0.014-0.126; odds ratio [OR] = 1.073, 95% CI for OR: 1.015-1.134; p = 0.014) and weighted median (beta = 0.071, 95% CI for beta: 0.002-0.141; OR = 1.074, 95% CI for OR: 1.002-1.152; p = 0.045). Reverse MR analysis showed no causal effect of dementia on chickenpox. Our analysis suggests a causal effect of genetically increased chickenpox on dementia risk. Thus, chickenpox may be a potential risk factor for dementia.

Automated summary

This study identifies a causal link between chickenpox and dementia, showing that genetically increased chickenpox is associated with an increased risk of dementia.