Omega‐3 fatty acids and their influence on hypertension and coronary atherosclerosis: Insights from a Mendelian randomization approach

• Published in: The journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) Vol. 26; no. 4; pp. 382 - 390
• Main Authors: Song, Yuchen, Wang, Qun, Jia, Lianqun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.04.2024; John Wiley and Sons Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis - epidemiology; Atherosclerosis - genetics; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular Diseases; Clinical trials; Coronary Artery Disease - epidemiology; Coronary Artery Disease - genetics; Coronary vessels; Datasets; Estimates; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids, Omega-3; Genome-Wide Association Study; Health risks; Humans; Hypertension; Hypertension - epidemiology; Hypertension - genetics; intermediate analysis; Lipids; Mendelian randomisation; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Omega-3 fatty acids; Omega‐3; Original; Variables; Vein & artery diseases; atherosclerosis; intermediate analysis; Omega‐3; hypertension; Mendelian randomisation
• DOI: 10.1111/jch.14782
• ISSN: 1524-6175; 1751-7176

It has been suggested that Omega‐3 fatty acids may improve endothelial thickness and thereby reduce the onset of cardiovascular diseases such as coronary atherosclerosis and hypertension. However, published observational epidemiological studies on the relationship between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Omega‐3 fatty acids remain inconclusive. Here, we performed a two‐sample Mendelian randomisation analysis using publicly available GWAS pooled statistics to study a GWAS dataset of 16 380 466 SNPs in 23 363 cases and 195 429 controls (also of European ancestry) to determine genetic susceptibility to hypertension. We performed random‐effects Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) Mendelian Randomization (MR) analyses supplemented by a series of sensitivity assessments to measure the robustness of the findings and to detect any violations of the MR assumptions. During the course of the study, we used IVW, MR‐Egger, and weighted median regression to infer that Omega‐3 intake has a potentially adverse effect against atherosclerosis, although the trend was not significant (OR = 1.1198; 95%; CI: 0.9641–1.3006, p =  .130). Meanwhile, our analyses showed a statistically significant negative association between Omega‐3 fatty acid levels and risk of hypertension (OR = 0.9006; 95% CI: 0.8179–0.9917, p =  .033). In addition, we explored the causal relationship between atherosclerosis and hypertension and found a significant correlation (OR = 1.3036; 95% CI: 1.0672–1.5923, p =  .009). In conclusion, our extensive data investigated by MR suggest that elevated levels of Omega‐3 fatty acids may be associated with an decreased risk of hypertension. Although there is no direct link between hypertension and atherosclerosis, the possibility of a subtle association cannot be categorically excluded.