Assessing the genetic relationship between gastro-esophageal reflux disease and risk of COVID-19 infection.

Abstract

BackgroundSymptoms related with Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) were previously shown to be linked with increased risk for the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). We aim to interrogate the possibility of a shared genetic basis between GERD and COVID-19 outcomes.MethodsUsing published GWAS data for GERD (78 707 cases; 288 734 controls) and COVID-19 susceptibility (up to 32 494 cases; 1.5 million controls), we examined the genetic relationship between GERD and three COVID-19 outcomes: risk of developing severe COVID-19, COVID-19 hospitalization and overall COVID-19 risk. We estimated the genetic correlation between GERD and COVID-19 outcomes followed by Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess genetic causality. Conditional analyses were conducted to examine whether known COVID-19 risk factors (obesity, smoking, type-II diabetes, coronary artery disease) can explain the relationship between GERD and COVID-19.ResultsWe found small to moderate genetic correlations between GERD and COVID-19 outcomes (rg between 0.06–0.24). MR analyses revealed a OR of 1.15 (95% CI: 0.96–1.39) for severe COVID-19; 1.16 (1.01–1.34) for risk of COVID-19 hospitalization; 1.05 (0.97–1.13) for overall risk of COVID-19 per doubling of odds in developing GERD. The genetic correlation/associations between GERD and COVID-19 showed mild attenuation towards the null when obesity and smoking was adjusted for.ConclusionsSusceptibility for GERD and risk of COVID-19 hospitalization were genetically correlated, with MR findings supporting a potential causal role between the two. The genetic association between GERD and COVID-19 was partially attenuated when obesity is accounted for, consistent with obesity being a major risk factor for both diseases.