Background Previous observational studies have yielded inconclusive findings regarding the potential association between cheese intake and peripheral vascular diseases (PVDs). We sought to systematically investigate the causal link between cheese intake and PVDs. Methods A two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) investigation was undertaken to evaluate the causal link between cheese intake and PVDs. This MR analysis relied on summary statistics derived from genome-wide associations of cheese intake (N=451,486) and an array of PVDs, including peripheral artery disease (PAD) (N=1,230 cases, 59,964 controls), peripheral vascular disease (PVD) (N=1,456 cases, 461,554 controls), peripheral angiopathy (N=193 cases, 162,201 controls), aortic dissection (N=470 cases, 218,322 controls), aortic aneurysm (AA) (N=2,825 cases, 215,967 controls), other peripheral vascular diseases (N=1,037 cases, 217,755 controls), pulmonary embolism (PE) (N=1,846 cases, 461,164 controls), deep vein thrombosis(N=6,795, not available cases/controls), and arterial embolism and thrombosis of lower extremity artery (N=471 cases, 218,321 controls). The primary outcome of the study utilized inverse variance weighted (IVW) MR analysis, with weighted median, MR Egger, and weighted mode methods serving as complementary analyses to IVW. Moreover, the results were robustly examined through a sensitivity analysis. Results Genetically predicted cheese intake was not associated with peripheral artery disease [odds ratio (OR) = 1.00, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00–1.00, P = 0.953], peripheral vascular disease (OR = 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99–1.00, P = 0.265), peripheral angiopathy (OR =0.56, 95% CI: 0.09–3.66, P = 0.566), aortic dissection(OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.19–2.55, P = 0.583), aortic aneurysm(OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.46–1.82, P = 0.809), other peripheral vascular diseases(OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.44–2.21, P = 0.979), pulmonary embolism(OR = 1.00, 95% CI:1.00–1.00, P = 0.635), deep vein thrombosis(OR = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.62–1.12, P = 0.229), and arterial embolism and thrombosis of lower extremity artery(OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.21–2.29, P = 0.5413). Conclusion Based on the results of our two-sample MR analysis, we found no significant association between cheese intake and the risk of PVDs, including peripheral artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, peripheral angiopathy, aortic dissection, aortic aneurysm, other peripheral vascular diseases, pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, and arterial embolism and thrombosis of lower extremity artery.

Background Previous observational studies have yielded conflicting results regarding the association between cheese intake and atherosclerosis, and the relative contribution to each subtype (coronary atherosclerosis, peripheral atherosclerosis, cerebral atherosclerosis and arterial stiffness) remains unclear. We sought to systematically investigate the causal link between cheese intake and atherosclerosis. Methods A two-sample MR study was conducted to investigate the causal relationship between cheese intake and atherosclerosis subtypes. Summary statistics from genome-wide associations of cheese intake (N= 451,486 individuals), coronary atherosclerosis (N= 14,334 cases, 346,860 controls), peripheral atherosclerosis (N= 6,631 cases, 162,201 controls), arterial stiffness (N= 151,053 individuals, no available cases/controls), cerebral atherosclerosis (N= 104 cases, 218,688 controls), and atherosclerosis (excluding cerebral, coronary and PAD) (N= 6,599 cases, 212,193 controls) were used in the MR study. Inverse variance weighted (IVW) analysis was utilized for the study's main result, and weighted median, MR Egger, and weighted mode analyses were used as complementary analyses to IVW. Moreover, the results were robustly examined through a sensitivity analysis. Results Genetically predicted cheese intake was positively associated with coronary atherosclerosis (OR=0.98, 95%CI=0.97–0.99, P=0.002), peripheral atherosclerosis (OR=0.56, 95%CI=0.37–0.84, P=0.006), arterial stiffness (OR=0.87, 95%CI=0.81–0.94, P=0.001), and atherosclerosis (excluding cerebral, coronary and PAD) (OR=0.65, 95%CI=0.43–0.98, P=0.037) in the inverse variance weighted analysis. However, no causal relationship between cheese intake and cerebral atherosclerosis was observed (OR=0.91, 95%CI=0.07–11.28, P=0.941). Conclusion Our two-sample MR analysis revealed that cheese intake was significantly associated with an increased risk of coronary atherosclerosis, peripheral atherosclerosis, arterial stiffness, and atherosclerosis (excluding cerebral, coronary and PAD). However, no causal relationship between cheese intake and cerebral atherosclerosis was observed in the MR analysis.

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