tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
World J Psychiatry
. 2022 Mar 19;12(3):536-540.
doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i3.536.
Does COVID-19 increase the risk of neuropsychiatric sequelae? Evidence from a mendelian randomization approach
Alfonsina Tirozzi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Federica Santonastaso[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Giovanni de Gaetano[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Licia Iacoviello[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alessandro Gialluisi[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Observational studies based on electronic health records (EHR) report an increased risk of neurological/neuropsychiatric sequelae for patients who have had coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, these studies may suffer from biases such as unmeasured confounding, residual reverse causality, or lack of precision in EHR-based diagnoses. To rule out these biases, we tested causal links between COVID-19 and different potential neurological/neuropsychiatric sequelae through a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis of summary statistics from large Genome-Wide Association Scans of susceptibility to COVID-19 and different neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, stroke, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. We found robust evidence suggesting that COVID-19 - notably the hospitalized and most severe forms - carries an increased risk of neuropsychiatric sequelae, particularly Alzheimer's disease, and to a lesser extent anxiety disorder. In line with a large longitudinal EHR-based study, this evidence was stronger for more severe COVID-19 forms. These results call for a targeted screening strategy to tackle the post-COVID neuropsychiatric pandemic.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Anxiety; COVID-19; Mendelian randomization; Neurological disorders; Neuropsychiatric disorders; Sars-CoV-2.
. 2022 Mar 19;12(3):536-540.
doi: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i3.536.
Does COVID-19 increase the risk of neuropsychiatric sequelae? Evidence from a mendelian randomization approach
Alfonsina Tirozzi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Federica Santonastaso[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Giovanni de Gaetano[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Licia Iacoviello[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Alessandro Gialluisi[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35433322
- PMCID: PMC8968503
- DOI: 10.5498/wjp.v12.i3.536
Abstract
Observational studies based on electronic health records (EHR) report an increased risk of neurological/neuropsychiatric sequelae for patients who have had coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, these studies may suffer from biases such as unmeasured confounding, residual reverse causality, or lack of precision in EHR-based diagnoses. To rule out these biases, we tested causal links between COVID-19 and different potential neurological/neuropsychiatric sequelae through a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis of summary statistics from large Genome-Wide Association Scans of susceptibility to COVID-19 and different neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, including major depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, stroke, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. We found robust evidence suggesting that COVID-19 - notably the hospitalized and most severe forms - carries an increased risk of neuropsychiatric sequelae, particularly Alzheimer's disease, and to a lesser extent anxiety disorder. In line with a large longitudinal EHR-based study, this evidence was stronger for more severe COVID-19 forms. These results call for a targeted screening strategy to tackle the post-COVID neuropsychiatric pandemic.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Anxiety; COVID-19; Mendelian randomization; Neurological disorders; Neuropsychiatric disorders; Sars-CoV-2.