COVID-19, vaccination and migraine: Causal association or epiphenomenon?
by Hailun Jiang, Chao Zhang, Xianggang Meng, Shihao Chi, Danqi Huang, Shizhe Deng, Guang Tian, Zhihong Meng
BackgroundDiverse studies have revealed discrepant evidence concerning the causal association between Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and COVID-19 vaccination in relation to migraines. Investigating the correlation between the former two factors and migraines can facilitate policymakers in the precise formulation of comprehensive post-pandemic interventions while urging the populace to adopt a judicious perspective on COVID-19 vaccination.
MethodsWe undertook a Mendelian randomization (MR) study. The primary assessment of the causal relationship between the three different COVID-19 exposures and migraine was conducted using the standard inverse variance weighted (IVW) approach. In the supplementary analysis, we also employed two methodologies: the weighted median estimator (WME) and the MR-Egger regression. Ultimately, the reliability and stability of the outcomes were assessed via Cochran’s Q test, the leave-one-out method, the MR-Egger intercept test, and the MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) test.
ResultsThe results indicate an absence of correlation between genetically predicted COVID-19 (①Very severe respiratory confirmed COVID-19: odds ratio [OR], 1.0000881; 95%CI, 0.999748–1.000428; p = 0.6118; ②Hospitalized COVID-19: OR, 1.000024; 95%CI, 0.9994893–1.000559; p = 0.931;③SARS-CoV-2 infection: OR, 1.000358; 95%CI, 0.999023–1.001695; p = 0.5993) and the risk of migraine. Furthermore, the MR-Egger regression and WME also yielded no evidence of COVID-19 elevating the risk of migraine occurrence. Sensitivity analysis affirmed the robustness and consistency of all outcomes.
ConclusionsThe results of this study do not offer genetic evidence to substantiate a causal relationship between COVID-19 and migraines. Thus, the deduction drawn from COVID-19 genetic data is that COVID-19 vaccination is unlikely to exert an impact on the occurrence of migraines, though this conclusion warrants further investigation.