Li Y, Guo H, Peng H, Hou T, Zhang H, Tan Y, Zheng Y, Wang M, Wu Y, Qin X, Li J, Ye Y, Wu T, Chen D, Hu Y, Li L
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing 100191, China.
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing 100191, China.
Beijing Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2025 Jun 18;57(3):423-429. doi: 10.19723/j.issn.1671-167X.2025.03.003.
To explore the spousal correlations of total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), and to investigate the reasons behind these spousal correlations.
Participants and data were from the baseline survey of family-based cohort studies in Fangshan, Beijing and Tulou, Fujian. The origin of spousal correlations were explored from perspectives of convergence, assortative mating, social homogamy. Pearson ' s correlation and generalized linear models (GLM) were used to estimate the spousal correlation. Convergence was assessed by Pearson ' s correlation between the phenotypic differences between couples and the duration of marriage, with GLM used for further validation. Pearson ' s correlation of genetic risk scores (GRS) and couple-specific Mendelian randomization (MR) were calculated to assess the genetic correlation and possible causal relationships between spouses. Two-independent-sample -tests were used to compare GRS consistency across subgroups divided by education attainment, couple-specific MR and statistics used to test assortative mating in subgroups and intergroup differences.
In the study, 342 couples (287 couples from Fangshan and 55 couples from Fujian) were included, with the average age of (64.91±8.76) years. Spousal correlations of TC, TG, HDL-C, and LDL-C showed statistically significant associations both before and after adjusting for covariates, with effect sizes of 0.229 (95%: 0.125-0.327), 0.257 (95%: 0.155-0.354), 0.179 (95%: 0.074-0.280), and 0.181 (95%: 0.076-0.282). For convergence, for each additional year of marriage, ΔTC increased by 0.016 mmol/L (95%: 0.001-0.033 mmol/L), and ΔLDL-C increased by 0.017 mmol/L (95%: 0.002-0.031 mmol/L). For assortative mating, GRS correlations and results of couple specific MR didn ' t show any statistical significance. For social homogamy, no differences in GRS or assortative mating were found between subgroups stratified by education attainment.
The blood lipid in participants exhibit spousal phenotypic correlations, however, no effects of convergence, assortative mating or social homogamy were observed. More independent studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to further validate these findings in the future.
探讨总胆固醇（TC）、总甘油三酯（TG）、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇（LDL-C）和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）的配偶相关性，并探究这些配偶相关性背后的原因。
研究对象和数据来自北京房山和福建土楼家庭队列研究的基线调查。从趋同、选型交配、社会同质性的角度探讨配偶相关性的来源。采用Pearson相关性分析和广义线性模型（GLM）估计配偶相关性。通过夫妻间表型差异与婚姻持续时间的Pearson相关性评估趋同情况，并用GLM进行进一步验证。计算遗传风险评分（GRS）的Pearson相关性和夫妻特异性孟德尔随机化（MR），以评估配偶间的遗传相关性和可能的因果关系。采用两独立样本t检验比较按教育程度划分的亚组间GRS一致性、夫妻特异性MR，并采用统计学方法检验亚组内选型交配和组间差异。
本研究纳入342对夫妻（287对来自房山，55对来自福建），平均年龄为（64.91±8.76）岁。调整协变量前后，TC、TG、HDL-C和LDL-C的配偶相关性均具有统计学意义，效应大小分别为0.229（95%：0.125 - 0.327）、0.257（95%：0.155 - 0.354）、0.179（95%：0.074 - 0.280）和0.181（95%：0.076 - 0.282）。对于趋同情况，婚姻每增加一年，ΔTC增加0.016 mmol/L（95%：0.001 - 0.033 mmol/L），ΔLDL-C增加0.017 mmol/L（95%：0.002 - 0.031 mmol/L）。对于选型交配，GRS相关性和夫妻特异性MR结果均无统计学意义。对于社会同质性，按教育程度分层的亚组间在GRS或选型交配方面未发现差异。
研究参与者的血脂呈现配偶表型相关性，然而，未观察到趋同、选型交配或社会同质性的影响。未来需要更多样本量更大的独立研究来进一步验证这些发现。
