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MINI-REVIEW

Genetic susceptibility to severe COVID-19 and COVID-19 hospitalization and the risk of pre-eclampsia: A Mendelian randomization study

Yan Qiao Gong1 ,  Ao Wang2 ,  Ke Yi1,2*
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1 Department of Infection Control, Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory of Occurrence and Intervention of Rheumatic Diseases/Hubei Provincial Clinical Research Center for Nephrology, Minda Hospital of Hubei Minzu University, Hubei Minzu University, Enshi, Hubei, China
2 Key Laboratory of Obstetrics and Gynecologic and Pediatric Diseases and Birth Defects of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China
EJMO, 025200184 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025200184
Received: 12 May 2025 | Revised: 30 May 2025 | Accepted: 4 June 2025 | Published online: 21 August 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

The association between COVID-19 and pre-eclampsia (PE) has been explored in epidemiological observational studies. However, due to methodological constraints, consensus has yet to be established. To address these limitations and investigate the potential causal relationship between COVID-19 and PE risk, we conducted a two-sample mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. MR analyses were performed to explore the genetic links and potential causality between PE and two COVID-19 phenotypes: hospitalization and severe disease, using available genome-wide association studies summary statistics. To strengthen causal inference, the primary inverse variance weighting (IVW) approach was complemented by four additional methods—MR-Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and simple mode—offering a robust and comprehensive evaluation. The MR analysis from the IVW model showed genetic liabilities to COVID-19 hospitalization (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.01 – 1.30) and severe COVID-19 (OR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.01 – 1.18) to be associated with an increased PE risk. This MR analysis provides genetic evidence supporting a positive causal link between severe COVID-19 and the risk of PE.

Keywords
Pre-eclampsia
COVID-19
Mendelian randomization
Single nucleotide polymorphism
Instrumental variable
Funding
This research was supported by the Science and Technology Program of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture (Grant No. D20220018).
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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