The causal associations of circulating amino acids with blood pressure: a Mendelian randomization study

BACKGROUND: Circulating levels of amino acids were associated with blood pressure (BP) in observational studies. However, the causation of such associations has been hypothesized but is difficult to prove in human studies. Here, we aimed to use two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses to evaluate the potential causal associations of circulating levels of amino acids with BP and risk of hypertension. METHODS: We generated genetic instruments for circulating levels of nine amino acids by conducting meta-analyses of genome-wide association study (GWAS) in UK Biobank participants with metabolomic data (n = 98,317) and another published metabolomics GWAS (n = 24,925). Data on the associations of the genetic variants with BP and hypertension were obtained in the UK Biobank participants without metabolomic data (n = 286,390). The causal effects were estimated using inverse-variance weighted method. RESULTS: Significant evidence consistently supported the causal effects of increased branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs, i.e., leucine, isoleucine, and valine) levels on higher BP and risk of hypertension (all P < 0.006 after Bonferroni correction except for P(leucine-on-diastolicBP) = 0.008). For example, per standard deviation higher of genetically predicted isoleucine levels were associated with 2.71 ± 0.78 mmHg higher systolic BP and 1.24 ± 0.34 mmHg higher diastolic BP, as well as with 7% higher risk of hypertension (odds ratio: 1.07, [95% CI: 1.04–1.10]). In addition, per standard deviation higher of genetically predicted glycine level was associated with lower systolic BP (− 0.70 ± 0.17 mmHg, P = 4.04 × 10(−5)) and a lower risk of hypertension (0.99 [0.98–0.99], P = 6.46 × 10(−5)). In the reverse direction, genetically predicted higher systolic BP was associated with lower circulating levels of glycine (− 0.025±0.008, P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence for causal impacts of genetically predicted circulating BCAAs and glycine levels on BP. Meanwhile, genetically predicted higher BP was associated with lower glycine levels. Further investigations are warranted to clarify the underlying mechanisms. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12916-022-02612-w.