Gastroesophageal reflux disease may increase risk of atrial fibrillation, suggests study

A recent research unveiled a significant association between gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and an increased risk of developing atrial fibrillation (AF). This observational study published in the recent issue of Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine suggests that GERD could be a contributing factor to AF.

Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 2% to 3% of the global population. The individuals with AF are at a higher risk of heart failure and stroke and may experience symptoms such as fatigue, dyspnea, dizziness and heart palpitations. AF imposes significant health and economic burdens on society by contributing to substantial medical expenses and diminished quality of life.

To explore this potential link, Lei Wang and team employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach which assessed the causal impact of one condition on another by using genetic variants as instrumental variables. The study utilized data from two large genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The first GWAS included a total of 6,02,604 participants and examined the genetic variants associated with GERD. The second GWAS, involving over 1,030,836 participants which focused on genetic variations linked to AF.

The analysis utilized 76 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as markers to investigate the relationship between genetically predicted GERD and AF incidence. The MR analysis revealed a significant correlation between GERD and AF.

The inverse-variance weighted method was employed to evaluate effect sizes and additional statistical techniques such as MR-Egger, simple mode, weighted mode, MR Pleiotropy Residual Sum, outlier and weighted median were used for sensitivity analysis. This model showed that genetically predicted GERD was associated with a higher incidence of AF, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.165 (95% CI 1.102–1.231; P = 7.637 × 10−8). Also, the MR-Egger method indicated no evidence of gene pleiotropy by suggesting that the observed association was not prompted by the confounding genetic factors (intercept = 0.003, P = 0.581). The reliability and robustness of these findings were confirmed through various MR methods in the sensitivity analysis.

The findings of this research suggest a potential causal link between GERD and an increased risk of AF. If GERD is indeed a contributing factor to AF, early treatment of GERD might reduce the risk of developing AF. Further research and elaborate clinical trials are required to fully establish this causal significance.

Reference:

Wang, L., & Lu, Y. W. (2024). Gastroesophageal reflux disease may causally associate with the increased atrial fibrillation risk: evidence from two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses. In Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine (Vol. 11). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2024.1393383