Abstract:
Objective To investigate the specific mechanisms by which zinc finger DHHC-type containing 7 (ZDHHC7) regulates immune cells and plasma metabolites to reduce the risk of hypertension.
Methods Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) data for ZDHHC7 were obtained from the eQTLGen database (n=26 118), while genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data for hypertension (n=484 598), immune cells (n=3 658), and plasma metabolites (n=8 192) were extracted from the GWAS Catalog. All datasets were derived from European populations. Five Mendelian randomization (MR) methods, including inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode, were used to evaluate causal relationships. Sensitivity analyses were performed using Cochran’s Q test, MR-Egger intercept, leave-one-out analysis, and MR-PRESSO. Statistical power of MR analysis was assessed via post hoc power calculation. Two-step MR was conducted to evaluate the mediating effects of immune cells and plasma metabolites on the relationship between ZDHHC7 and hypertension risk.
Results All five MR methods indicated a negative association between ZDHHC7 and hypertension risk (IVW: OR=0.995, 95%CI 0.992–0.998, P<0.001; MR-Egger: OR=0.994, 95%CI 0.989–0.998, P=0.014; weighted median: OR=0.994, 95%CI 0.991–0.998, P=0.004; simple mode: OR=0.993, 95%CI 0.987–1.000, P=0.049; weighted mode: OR=0.994, 95%CI 0.990–0.997, P<0.001). The summary-level Mendelian randomization (SMR) analysis yielded consistent results (OR=0.995, 95%CI 0.990–0.998, P=0.011). Sensitivity analyses showed no significant heterogeneity or bias. The estimated post hoc power was 23.73%. Mediation analysis further revealed that three immune cell phenotypes (the proportion of B cell subsets lacking IgD and CD27 markers, expression of CD123 on plasmacytoid dendritic cells, and expression of CD123 on CD62L+ plasmacytoid dendritic cells) and three plasma metabolites (1-stearoylphosphatidylinositol, nicotinic acid, and lactate) mediated the relationship between ZDHHC7 and hypertension risk.
Conclusion ZDHHC7 may reduce the risk of hypertension by modulating specific immune cells and plasma metabolites.