Causal effect of COVID-19 on Alzheimer's disease: A Mendelian randomization study

It was reported that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection may cause brain size reduction and cognitive decline. Whether COVID-19 may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is not known. We conducted genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess genetic relationships and potential causal associations between AD and three COVID-19 outcomes (SARS-CoV-2 infection, COVID-19 hospitalization, and critical COVID-19) by utilizing genome-wide association study datasets on these traits. A map of COVID-19-driven molecular pathways was constructed to investigate potential mechanisms underlying the COVID-19 and AD connection. Genetic correlation analyses indicated that AD had a significant positive genetic correlation with hospitalized COVID-19 (r(g) = 0.271). The MR analysis from the inverse-variance-weighted model showed that genetic liabilities to hospitalized COVID-19 (odds ratio: 1.02, 95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.03) and critical COVID-19 (1.01, 1.00-1.02) were associated with an increased risk for AD. However, no causal effect of genetic liability to SARS-CoV-2 infection on AD was detected (1.03, 0.97-1.09). A total of 60 functionally interconnected genes were reported to mediate the COVID-19-AD connection, which showed functional enrichment in immunity-related pathways and tissue enrichment in the lung and brain. Our study suggests that severe COVID-19 may contribute to the development of AD, while suffering a mild case of COVID-19 may not increase the risk for AD. The influence of COVID-19 on AD may be mediated by immunity-related pathways acting predominantly in the lung and brain.

Automated summary

Genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization analyses showed that severe COVID-19 may contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease, while mild cases of COVID-19 do not increase the risk. The influence of COVID-19 on Alzheimer's disease may be mediated by immunity-related pathways acting predominantly in the lung and brain.