Can Lipid-Lowering Drugs Reduce the Risk of Cholelithiasis? A Mendelian Randomization Study

Abstract

Background and Aims: Cholelithiasis etiology intricately involves lipid metabolism. We sought to investigate the plausible causal link between genetically proxied lipid-lowering medications—specifically HMGCR inhibitors, PCSK9 inhibitors, and NPC1L1 inhibitors—and cholelithiasis risk.
Methods: Our study utilized two genetic instruments for exposure to lipid-lowering drugs. These instruments encompassed genetic variants linked to low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol within or in proximity to drug target genes, along with loci governing gene expression traits of these targets. Effect estimates were derived through Inverse-variance-weighted MR (IVW-MR) and summary-data-based MR (SMR) methods.
Results: Higher HMGCR-mediated LDL cholesterol levels (IVW-MR, OR = 2.15, 95% CI = 1.58– 2.94; P = 0.000) and increased HMGCR expression (SMR, OR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.04– 1.37; P = 0.014) are linked to elevated cholelithiasis risk, suggesting potential benefits of HMGCR inhibition. In contrast, higher PCSK9-mediated LDL cholesterol levels (IVW-MR, OR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.56– 0.94; P = 0.015) and increased PCSK9 expression (SMR, OR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.82– 0.99; P = 0.035) both correlate with lower cholelithiasis risk, indicating that PCSK9 inhibition may elevate this risk. Nevertheless, no substantial link emerged between NPC1L1-mediated LDL cholesterol or NPC1L1 expression and cholelithiasis in both IVW-MR and SMR analyses.
Conclusion: This MR investigation affirms the causal link between the utilization of HMGCR inhibitors and a diminished risk of cholelithiasis. Additionally, it indicates a causal link between PCSK9 inhibitors use and increased cholelithiasis risk. However, no significant correlation was found between NPC1L1 inhibitors use and cholelithiasis risk.

Keywords: cholelithiasis, lipid-lowering drugs, Mendelian randomization analysis, HMGCR inhibitors, PCSK9 inhibitors, NPC1L1 inhibitors