Prevention & lipidsCohort study
Neutrophil counts and cardiovascular disease
- Observational and Mendelian randomisation study
- one-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) (individual-level data)
- two-sample MR (summary-level data)
Authors' conclusion
Observational and genetically determined high neutrophil counts were associated with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, supporting that high blood neutrophil counts is a causal risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
Study context
- Population
- Copenhagen General Population Study (observational); UK Biobank (one-sample MR); Blood Cell Consortium (two-sample MR)
- Exposure
- Higher vs lower neutrophil counts
- Outcome
- Risk of nine CV endpoints: ischaemic heart disease, MI, peripheral arterial disease, ischaemic cerebrovascular disease, ischaemic stroke, vascular-related dementia, vascular dementia, HF, AF
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Genetically predicted neutrophil counts (UK Biobank, one-sample MR)
Per 1-SD higher genetically predicted neutrophil countsOdds ratio (95% CI)
ischaemic heart disease
1.15(1.08–1.21)
MI
1.22(1.12–1.34)
peripheral arterial disease
1.19(1.04–1.36)
Per 1-SD higher genetically predicted neutrophil counts, as printed
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
| Outcome | OR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Two-sample MR (Blood Cell Consortium) — Per 1-SD higher genetically predicted neutrophil counts · ischaemic heart disease | 1.14 (1.05–1.23) | |
| Two-sample MR (Blood Cell Consortium) — Per 1-SD higher genetically predicted neutrophil counts · MI | 1.11 (1.02–1.20) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Two-sample MR (Blood Cell Consortium)
- Multiple sensitivity analyses showed consistent results
Other types of leucocytes (two-sample MR)
- No robust associations
Original publication
Neutrophil counts and cardiovascular disease. Eur Heart J. Published 9 November 2023. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehad649
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it