Genetic tendency to lower systolic pressure tied to rhinitis risk
A genetic analysis found lower predicted systolic blood pressure was associated with higher allergic rhinitis risk, with no evidence of the reverse link.
By Tom Brennan · Health & Medicine Correspondent
2 min read
People with a genetic tendency toward lower systolic blood pressure may face a higher risk of allergic rhinitis, according to a study published online May 29 in Tobacco Induced Diseases. The finding matters because it links a cardiovascular trait to an allergic airway condition through genetic evidence.
Zhu Mao of Fujian Children’s Hospital in Fuzhou, China, and colleagues used a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization design to examine whether systolic blood pressure affects allergic rhinitis risk, and whether genetic liability to allergic rhinitis affects systolic blood pressure.
The researchers used single-nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, as instrumental variables. According to the study, the selected variants were associated with systolic blood pressure at genome-wide significance and had low linkage disequilibrium, a measure of how closely genetic variants are inherited together.
Genetic analysis pointed in one direction
In the forward analysis, Mao and colleagues included 421 independent SNPs associated with systolic blood pressure. The study reported that genetically predicted lower systolic blood pressure was linked to increased susceptibility to allergic rhinitis.
The association appeared across several Mendelian randomization methods. The researchers reported odds ratios of 0.9997 using the inverse-variance weighted method, 0.9998 using the weighted median estimator and 0.9996 using MR Egger regression, with 95% confidence intervals of 0.9995 to 0.9999, 0.9995 to 1.0001 and 0.9990 to 1.0001, respectively.
Those estimates were presented in relation to systolic blood pressure, meaning lower genetically predicted systolic pressure corresponded to greater allergic rhinitis risk in the investigators’ interpretation. Allergic rhinitis is the immune-related nasal condition commonly associated with symptoms such as seasonal or environmental allergies, though the study report summarized here did not provide symptom data.
The reverse analysis did not show evidence that genetic liability to allergic rhinitis influences systolic blood pressure, according to the authors. That result left the reported genetic association pointing from systolic blood pressure toward allergic rhinitis, rather than the other way around.
Authors call for more work
Mao and colleagues said the findings suggest a connection between immune regulation and cardiovascular physiology. They also said further mechanistic and clinical studies are needed to understand the relationship.
The paper, titled “Low systolic blood pressure increases risk of allergic rhinitis: Evidence from a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study accounting for smoking environment,” lists Zhu Mao and co-authors and carries the DOI 10.18332/tid/220356.
This story draws on original reporting from Medical Xpress.