Department of Acupuncture and Massage College, Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan, China.
Int Wound J. 2024 Feb;21(2):e14714. doi: 10.1111/iwj.14714.
This study aimed to investigate the causal relationship between inflammatory cytokines and the risk of varicose veins. The data were sourced from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of European individuals. Multiple Mendelian randomization (MR) methods were used to evaluate the association between inflammatory cytokines and varicose veins. The study found significant associations between elevated levels of certain inflammatory biomarkers (e.g., CASP-8, Vascular endothelial growth factor A levels (VEGF_A)) and an increased risk of varicose veins, while others (e.g., 4EBP1, MMP-10) showed a protective effect. The MR-Egger Intercept and heterogeneity tests indicated no significant pleiotropy or heterogeneity. This comprehensive MR analysis identifies several cytokines as potential contributors to the pathogenesis of varicose veins, offering insights into novel therapeutic targets. Our findings underscore the importance of inflammation in varicose veins and suggest that targeting specific cytokines could be a promising strategy for the treatment and prevention of varicose veins.
本研究旨在探讨炎症细胞因子与静脉曲张风险之间的因果关系。数据来源于欧洲个体的全基因组关联研究（GWAS）。采用多种孟德尔随机化（MR）方法评估炎症细胞因子与静脉曲张之间的关联。研究发现，某些炎症生物标志物（如 CASP-8、血管内皮生长因子 A 水平（VEGF_A））水平升高与静脉曲张风险增加显著相关，而其他标志物（如 4EBP1、MMP-10）则表现出保护作用。MR-Egger 截距和异质性检验表明不存在显著的偏倚或异质性。这项综合的 MR 分析确定了几种细胞因子可能是静脉曲张发病机制的潜在贡献者，为新的治疗靶点提供了思路。我们的研究结果强调了炎症在静脉曲张中的重要性，并表明针对特定细胞因子可能是治疗和预防静脉曲张的一种有前途的策略。
