Exploring the Link Between Psoriasis and Genetic Predictors of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Traits: A Bidirectional Mendelian Randomization Study

ABSTRACT Psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by systemic inflammation and skin involvement, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. However, few studies have evaluated whether psoriasis and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) traits share a common genetic basis. This study aimed to investigate the genetic correlation and bidirectional causal relationships between psoriasis and CMR traits using Mendelian randomization (MR). We conducted a bidirectional two‐sample MR analysis to assess causal links between psoriasis and CMR traits. In the forward analysis, psoriasis was treated as the exposure and CMR traits as the outcomes; in the reverse analysis, CMR traits were used as the exposures and psoriasis as the outcome. Several MR methods were applied, including inverse variance‐weighted (IVW), MR‐Egger, weighted median, weighted mode, and simple mode. Finally, selected CMR traits were compared between patients with psoriasis and healthy controls. Psoriasis showed a causal effect on certain CMR traits, including regional peak circumferential strains (specifically, regional peak circumferential strain_13 (Ecc_AHA_13) and Ecc_AHA_14). Conversely, several CMR traits demonstrated causal effects on the risk of psoriasis, including right ventricular stroke volume (RVSV), left atrium ejection fraction (LAEF), regional peak circumferential strains (Ecc_AHA_12), and regional radial strains (regional radial strains_1(Err_AHA_1), Err_AHA_2, Err_AHA_15, and Err_global). In addition, circumferential strains (Ecc_AHA_13, Ecc_AHA_14) were higher in patients with psoriasis than in healthy controls. This research explored the genetic and causal connections between psoriasis and CMR traits, revealing the systemic influence of psoriasis on cardiovascular health.