Genetic correlation, causal relationship, and shared loci between vitamin D and COVID-19: A genome-wide cross-trait analysis

Observational studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of COVID-19 infection, yet little is known about the shared genomic architectures between them. Leveraging large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, we investigated the genetic correlation and causal relationship between genetically determined vitamin D and COVID-19 using linkage disequilibrium score regression and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses, and conducted a cross-trait GWAS meta-analysis to identify the overlapping susceptibility loci of them. We observed a significant genetic correlation between genetically predicted vitamin D and COVID-19 (r(g) = -0.143, p = 0.011), and the risk of COVID-19 infection would decrease by 6% for every 0.76 nmol L-1 increase of serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentrations in generalized MR (OR = 0.94, 95% CI: 0.89-0.99, p = 0.019). We identified rs4971066 (EFNA1) as a risk locus for the joint phenotype of vitamin D and COVID-19. In conclusion, genetically determined vitamin D is associated with COVID-19. Increased levels of serum 25OHD concentration may benefit the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

Automated summary

Observational studies have shown that vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of COVID-19 infection. This study investigated the genetic correlation and causal relationship between genetically determined vitamin D and COVID-19, and identified overlapping susceptibility loci. The results indicated that genetically determined vitamin D is associated with COVID-19, and increased serum 25 hydroxyvitamin D concentration may benefit the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.