Causal association of the brain structure with the susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity of COVID‐19: A large‐scale genetic correlation study

Abstract

AbstractBrain structure is related to its ability to resist external pathogens. Furthermore, there are several abnormal anatomical brain events and central system symptoms associated with COVID‐19. This study, which was conducted based on genetic variables, aimed to identify the causal association between brain structure and COVID‐19 phenotypes. We performed a two‐sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis using genetic variables obtained from large genome‐wide association studies as instruments to identify the potential causal effects of various brain imaging‐derived phenotypes (BIDPs) traits on susceptibility, hospitalisation, and severity of COVID‐19. We explored the genetic correlations of 1325 BIDPs with the susceptibility, hospitalisation, and severity of COVID‐19 using Linkage Disequilibrium Score Regression. We observed a causal relationship between increased cortical thickness of the left inferior temporal area and an increased risk of increased COVID‐19 infection (p = 4.29 × 10‐4) and hospitalisation (p = 3.67 × 10‐3). Moreover, the larger total surface area of the whole brain was negatively correlated with the risk of hospitalisation for COVID‐19. Furthermore, there was a significant causal association between increased cerebrospinal fluid volume and decreased severity of COVID‐19 (p = 3.74 × 10‐3). In a conclusion, we provide new insights into the causal association between BIDPs and COVID‐19 phenotypes, which may help elucidate the aetiology of COVID‐19.