Background

Plasma 1-H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR) metabolomic measures have yielded significant insight into the pathophysiology of cardiometabolic disease, but their interrelated nature complicates causal inference and clinical interpretation. This study aimed to investigate the associations of unrelated 1H-NMR metabolomic profiles with coronary artery disease (CAD) and ischemic stroke (ISTR).

Methods

Principal component analysis was performed on 168 1H-NMR metabolomic measures in 56,712 unrelated European participants from UK Biobank to retrieve uncorrelated principal components (PCs), which were used in Cox-proportional hazard models. For each outcome, two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were then conducted based on three non-overlapping databases, followed by a meta-analysis.

Results

The first six PCs collectively explaining 88% of the total variance were identified. For CAD, results from Cox and MR analyses were generally directionally consistent. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) [95% CI] for CAD per one-SD increase in genetically-influenced PC1 and PC3 (both characterized by distinct ApoB-associated lipoprotein profiles) were 1.04 [1.03, 1.05] and 0.94 [0.93, 0.96], respectively. Besides, the pooled OR [95% CI] for CAD per one-SD increase in genetically-influenced PC4, characterized by simultaneously decreased small HDL and increased large HDL, and independent of ApoB, was 1.05 [1.03, 1.07]. For ISTR, increases of PC3 and PC5 (characterized by increased amino acids) were associated with a lower risk and a higher risk, respectively.

Conclusions

This study confirms associations of ApoB-associated lipoprotein profiles with CAD and ISTR, and highlights the possible existence of an ApoB-independent lipoprotein profile, characterized by a distinctive HDL sub-particle distribution, driving CAD.

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