Medicine (Baltimore). 2026 Jun 5;105(23):e49202. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000049202.
ABSTRACT
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is one of the leading forms of cardiovascular disease in Europe and the primary cause of death in the region, while millions of individuals in Europe remain chronically infected with viral hepatitis, resulting in a persistent disease burden. A European study has previously indicated that the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among hospitalized patients with ischemic heart disease is significantly higher than the prevalence observed in the general population screened locally. Given this, further clarification of the association between CAD and viral hepatitis in European populations, and its potential underlying mechanisms, holds substantial practical significance, which may guide the optimization of clinical screening and the development of targeted prevention strategies. This study aims to explore this association using data from European populations. We conducted a cross-sectional study using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2017 to 2018 and assessed the association between coronary heart disease (CHD), angina/angina pectoris, heart attack/myocardial infarction (MI) and viral hepatitis and other hepatic disorders by multivariable weighted-adjusted logistic regression analyses. Secondly, we applied Mendelian randomization based on inverse variance weighting method and complementary methods to analyze the relationship between CHD, heart attack/MI, MI and viral hepatitis while sensitivity analyses were used to assess the pleiotropy of the results. We found that CAD may be positively associated with viral hepatitis in European populations. A total of 5501 participants were enrolled in our cross-sectional study. Logistic regression analysis showed that both CHD (odds ratio [OR; 95% confidence interval [CI]]: 2.06 [1.10-3.85]; P = .041) and angina/angina pectoris (OR [95% CI]: 3.81 [1.23-11.81]; P = .036) were significantly positively associated with viral hepatitis and other hepatic disorders. The results of bidirectional Mendelian randomization analyses supported a significant positive effect between MI (OR = 1.00094, 95% CI: 1.00026-1.00163, P = .007), heart attack/MI (OR = 1.027, 95% CI: 1.00065-1.054, P = .044), CHD (OR = 1.00070, 95% CI: 1.00010-1.0013, P = .022) and viral hepatitis, the sensitivity analyses further confirmed the robustness of the results.
PMID:42260875 | DOI:10.1097/MD.0000000000049202