Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to investigate the potential causal relationships between chronic pain and three key sarcopenia-related quantitative traits: (a) hand grip strength; (b) usual walking pace; and (c) appendicular lean mass, using bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization.
Methods
We conducted bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization using summary-level data from large-scale genome-wide association studies to assess the genetically predicted associations between chronic pain, including multisite chronic pain and chronic widespread musculoskeletal pain, and the aforementioned sarcopenia-related traits.
Results
Mendelian randomization revealed that multisite chronic pain was significantly associated with an increased risk of low hand grip strength (odds ratio = 1.70;
p
p
p
p
p
= 0.002); higher right hand grip strength was significantly associated with a lower risk of multisite chronic pain (odds ratio = 0.91;
p
= 0.002); and higher usual walking pace was significantly associated with a lower risk of multisite chronic pain (odds ratio = 0.49;
p
p
p
> 0.05).
Conclusion
This study provides genetic evidence supporting potential causal links between chronic pain and key phenotypic components of sarcopenia.