Journal of Shandong University (Health Sciences) ›› 2026, Vol. 64 ›› Issue (5): 67-73.doi: 10.6040/j.issn.1671-7554.0.2025.1405

• Clinical Medicine • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Causality between serum cholesterol concentration and neurogenic bladder risk

YANG Yufan1,2, LI Yue1,2, XIE Hao1,2, LIN Chunhua1,2   

  1. 1. Qingdao Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266021, Shandong, China;
    2. Department of Urology, The Affiliated Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital of Qingdao University, Yantai 264001, Shandong, China
  • Online:2026-05-13 Published:2026-05-13

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Abstract: Objective To evaluate the potential causal association between serum cholesterol levels and the risk of neurogenic bladder(NB)using a Mendelian randomization(MR)approach. Methods Summary statistics from publicly available genome-wide association studies were used to identify genetic variants significantly associated with serum cholesterol levels as instrumental variables. Multiple MR methods, including inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger regression, and weighted median, were applied. Analyses were conducted separately in European and East Asian populations to assess the consistency of the findings across different ancestral backgrounds. Results MR analysis in the European population demonstrated a negative association between genetically predicted serum cholesterol levels and NB risk(IVW:OR=0.776, 95%CI: 0.656-0.917, P=0.003). Sensitivity analyses revealed no substantial evidence of horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity. The effect direction in the East Asian population was consistent with that in the European population, although not statistically significant. Multivariable MR analysis showed that the negative association between cholesterol and NB remained statistically significant after adjusting for body mass index, physical activity, and type 2 diabetes(OR=0.890, 95%CI: 0.835-0.947, P=0.041). Conclusion Genetically predicted higher cholesterol levels have a protective effect against NB. Cholesterol metabolism pathways may play an important role in the pathophysiology of NB.

Key words: Neurogenic bladder, Cholesterol, Two-sample Mendelian randomization, Multivariable Mendelian randomization, Genome-wide association study, Instrumental variables

CLC Number: 

  • R694.5
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