Department of Urology, Heze Municipal Hospital, Shandong, China.
Department of General Practice, Heze Municipal Hospital, Shandong, China.
J Int Med Res. 2024 Sep;52(9):3000605241274236. doi: 10.1177/03000605241274236.
In this study, we aimed to explore the potential association between COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, severe COVID-19, and erection dysfunction (ED) using the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method.
Data pertaining to COVID-19 were extracted from the latest version of the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative genome-wide association study (GWAS) meta-analyses (Round 7, April 2022), and outcome data were obtained from the Open GWAS database. We applied various MR analysis methods, including the inverse variance weighted method, weighted median method, and MR-Egger regression.
Our investigation revealed a negative causal association between COVID-19 hospitalization and ED (total testosterone levels: beta = -0.026; 95% confidence interval: -0.049 to -0.001). However, no evidence supported causal relationships between COVID-19 infection, hospitalization for COVID-19, or severe COVID-19 and other ED risk factors.
The results of this comprehensive MR analysis suggest a negative causal link between COVID-19 hospitalization and total testosterone levels. Nonetheless, COVID-19 (comprising infection, hospitalization, and severe illness) may not directly correlate with an increased risk of ED. These findings imply that COVID-19 may exert a distinct impact on ED through indirect pathways.
本研究旨在使用两样本孟德尔随机化（MR）方法探讨 COVID-19 感染、住院、重症 COVID-19 与勃起功能障碍（ED）之间的潜在关联。
从最新版本的 COVID-19 宿主遗传学全基因组关联研究（GWAS）荟萃分析（第 7 轮，2022 年 4 月）中提取 COVID-19 相关数据，并从 Open GWAS 数据库中获取结局数据。我们应用了各种 MR 分析方法，包括逆方差加权法、加权中位数法和 MR-Egger 回归。
我们的研究发现 COVID-19 住院与 ED 之间存在负向因果关系（总睾酮水平：β=−0.026；95%置信区间：−0.049 至−0.001）。然而，没有证据支持 COVID-19 感染、COVID-19 住院或重症 COVID-19 与其他 ED 风险因素之间存在因果关系。
这项综合 MR 分析的结果表明 COVID-19 住院与总睾酮水平之间存在负向因果关系。然而，COVID-19（包括感染、住院和重症）可能与 ED 风险的增加没有直接关联。这些发现表明，COVID-19 可能通过间接途径对 ED 产生独特的影响。
