Evaluating the effect of green tea intake on cardiovascular diseases: A Mendelian randomization study in European and East Asian populations

Abstract

Previous research shows that more than 70% of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are attributed to modifiable risk factors. Here, we investigated relationship between consumption of green tea in European and East Asian populations and risk of CVDs using Mendelian randomization (MR). Instrumental variables for green tea intake were obtained from genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of 64,949 Europeans and 152,653 East Asians. GWASs for CVDs were derived from UK BioBank and BioBank Japan projects. The main method selected for MR analysis was either the inverse variance weighted (IVW) or Wald ratio, depending on the quantity of single nucleotide polymorphisms. Furthermore, we performed sensitivity analyses to confirm the reliability of the findings. Based on the results of IVW, there is no causal relationship between consumption of green tea and risk of 4 CVDs among Europeans (atrial fibrillation: OR = 1.000, 95% CI: 0.995–1.005, P = .910; heart failure: OR = 1.003, 95% CI: 0.994–1.012, P = .542; ischemic stroke: OR = 1.002, 95% CI: 0.993–1.011, P = .690; coronary artery disease: OR = 1.001, 95% CI: 0.996–1.007, P = .677). Sensitivity analyses and supplementary MR analyses also verify the robustness of the findings. Likewise, there was no correlation between the consumption of green tea and the occurrence of CVDs in East Asians. The consumption of green tea is not associated with a reduced risk of CVDs in populations from Europe and East Asia. This means that those who are trying to reduce their risk of CVDs by drinking more green tea may not benefit from doing so.