Unveiling novel drug targets for atherosclerosis: A Mendelian randomization analysis

Atherosclerosis is a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, necessitating the identification of novel therapeutic targets. By utilizing Mendelian randomization, the aim is to identify potential drug targets for the treatment of atherosclerosis. Using results from genomewide association studies and protein quantitative trait loci data, we genetically identified causal effects of levels of several circulating proteins on atherosclerosis risk, validated using multiple statistical approaches, and identified promising drug targets. These findings demonstrated promising targets worthy of further clinical study, especially lipoprotein (a) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9.