Eliminating COVID‐19 as the immediate culprit for igniting pancreatitis

Abstract

AbstractThe impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection on the potential development of pancreatitis is a subject of ongoing debate within academic discourse. Establishing a causal link between COVID‐19 and pancreatitis may not be fully supported by relying only on retrospective studies or case reports. This study examined the relationship between COVID‐19 phenotypes and pancreatitis by Mendelian randomization (MR) method. The identification of instrumental variables (single nucleotide polymorphisms) that exhibit a robust association with the COVID‐19 phenotypes was accomplished through a meticulous process of rigorous screening procedures. We included acute pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis (CP) as the outcomes in the MR analysis, even though no definitive studies exist between COVID‐19 and CP. A direct causal relationship between genetically predicted COVID‐19 phenotypes and pancreatitis risk cannot be established. There is an ongoing debate over the designation of COVID‐19 as a definitive cause of pancreatitis.