Causal association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and right ventricular structure and function: A Mendelian randomization study

Background and aim: Deficient concentrations of vitamin D have been linked to several cardiovascular conditions, but the causal relationship between serum 25hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and right ventricular structure and function remains unclear. Mendelian randomization (MR) was employed to inspect this association. Methods and results: Genetic instrumental variables associated with 25(OH)D levels were acquired from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analyses. Summary statistics for right ventricular structure and function, including right ventricular end diastolic volume, right ventricular end systolic volume, right ventricular stroke volume, and right ventricular ejection fraction, were acquired from publicly available GWAS datasets. For the primary analysis, the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was utilized in performing the MR analysis. Additionally, secondly analyses were conducted to estimate the robustness and consistency of the attained conclusions. The MR analysis did not reveal a considerable causal association between serum 25(OH)D levels and right ventricular end diastolic volume (0: 0.112, 95% confident interval [CI]: -0.006 to 0.230, p = 0.063), right ventricular end systolic volume (0: 0.102, 95% CI: -0.021 to 0.226, p = 0.105), right ventricular stroke volume (0: 0.095, 95% CI: -0.018 to 0.207, p = 0.099), or right ventricular ejection fraction (0: -0.005, 95% CI: -0.123 to 0.112, p = 0.928). Conclusions: Our findings did not reveal any substantial evidence supporting a causal relationship between serum 25(OH)D levels and the structure and function of the right ventricle. These findings suggest that serum 25(OH)D levels may not directly influence right ventricular parameters assessed. (c) 2023 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.