Novel insights into causal effects of serum lipids and lipid-modifying targets on cholelithiasis

ObjectiveDifferent serum lipids and lipid-modifying targets should affect the risk of cholelithiasis differently, however, whether such effects are causal is still controversial and we aimed to answer this question.DesignWe prospectively estimated the associations of four serum lipids with cholelithiasis in UK Biobank using the Cox proportional hazard model, including total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglycerides (TG). Furthermore, we estimated the causal associations of the genetically predicted serum lipids with cholelithiasis in Europeans using the Mendelian randomisation (MR) design. Finally, both drug-target MR and colocalisation analyses were performed to estimate the lipid-modifying targets' effects on cholelithiasis, including HMGCR, NPC1L1, PCSK9, APOB, LDLR, ACLY, ANGPTL3, MTTP, PPARA, PPARD and PPARG.ResultsWe found that serum levels of LDL-C and HDL-C were inversely associated with cholelithiasis risk and such associations were linear. However, the serum level of TC was non-linearly associated with cholelithiasis risk where lower TC was associated with higher risk of cholelithiasis, and the serum TG should be in an inverted 'U-shaped' relationship with it. The MR analyses supported that lower TC and higher TG levels were two independent causal risk factors. The drug-target MR analysis suggested that HMGCR inhibition should reduce the risk of cholelithiasis, which was corroborated by colocalisation analysis.ConclusionLower serum TC can causally increase the risk of cholelithiasis. The cholelithiasis risk would increase with the elevation of serum TG but would decrease when exceeding 2.57 mmol/L. The use of HMGCR inhibitors should prevent its risk.

Automated summary

Serum levels of LDL-C and HDL-C are inversely associated with the risk of cholelithiasis in a linear manner. However, the relationship between serum TC and cholelithiasis risk is non-linear, with lower TC being associated with higher risk, and serum TG has an inverted "U-shaped" relationship with cholelithiasis risk. MR analyses suggest that lower TC and higher TG levels are independent causal risk factors. Drug-target MR analysis indicates that inhibition of HMGCR can reduce the risk of cholelithiasis, which is supported by colocalisation analysis.