Association of physical activity, sedentary behaviours and sleep duration with cardiovascular diseases and lipid profiles: a Mendelian randomization analysis

Abstract

Background Observational studies have shown that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), vigorous physical activity (VPA), sedentary behaviours, and sleep duration were associated with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and lipid levels. However, whether such observations reflect causality remain largely unknown. We aimed to investigate the causal associations of physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and sleep duration with coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and lipid levels. Methods We conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study using genetic variants as instruments which are associated with physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and sleep duration to examine the causal effects on CVDs and lipid levels. This study included analyses of 4 potentially modifiable factors and 7 outcomes. Thus, the threshold of statistical significance is P = 1.8 × 10− 3 (0.05/4 × 7) after Bonferroni correction. Results In the present study, there was suggestive evidence for associations of genetically predicted VPA with CAD (odds ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence intervals, 0.47–0.90; P = 0.009) and MI (0.74; 0.59–0.93; P = 0.010). However, genetically predicted VPA, MVPA, sleep duration and sedentary behaviours did not show significant associations with stroke and any lipid levels. Conclusions Our findings from the MR approach provided suggestive evidence that vigorous exercise decreased risk of CAD and MI, but not stroke. However, there was no evidence to support causal associations of MVPA,sleep duration or sedentary behaviours with cardiovascular risk and lipid levels. Translational perspective The findings of this study did not point out specific recommendations on increasing physical activity required to deliver significant health benefits. Nevertheless, the findings allowed clinicians and public health practitioners to provide advice about increasing the total amount of excising time by demonstrating that such advice can be effective. Reliable assessment of the association of physical activity levels with different subtypes of CVDs is needed to provide the basis for a comprehensive clinical approach on CVDs prevention, which can be achieved through lifestyle interventions in addition to drug therapy.

Association of Sleep Duration With Atrial Fibrillation and Heart Failure: A Mendelian Randomization Analysis

“…With the application of MR approach, associations between sleep duration and coronary artery disease (CAD), myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke have been demonstrated. Daghlas et al (2019) supported short sleep duration as a potentially causal risk factor for CAD and MI, whereas Zhuang et al (2020) found no significant association between sleep duration with stroke. The aims of the current study were to estimate the effects of genetically determined sleep duration on the risk of AF and HF with MR analysis.…”

Assessment of causal effects of physical activity on neurodegenerative diseases: A Mendelian randomization study

“… 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 Meanwhile, Mendelian randomization (MR) design utilizing valid instrumental variants has been applied as a robust approach to making causal inference. 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 In our study, we implemented a two-sample MR design to investigate the role of physical activity in 3 common neurodegenerative diseases: AD, PD, and ALS.…”

Associations between Intensity, Frequency, Duration, and Volume of Physical Activity and the Risk of Stroke in Middle- and Older-Aged Chinese People: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…A study showed that a high or moderate level of PA was protective against stroke in men not women [ 13 ]. In addition, a study found that vigorous physical activity (VPA) was associated with a lower chance of having a stroke compared with light physical activity (LPA) [ 14 ], whereas other research has shown that VPA did not decrease the risk of stroke [ 15 ]. Meanwhile, there were also some inconsistent results in several studies about the associations between the frequency of PA and the risk of stroke [ 16 , 17 ].…”