Association between HIV infection and erectile dysfunction: A two-sample mendelian randomization study

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a causal relationship between HIV infection and erectile dysfunction in men through Mendelian randomization analysis. Materials and methods Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were performed using publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) statistics. The inverse variance weighting (IVW) method was used as the primary analysis. We applied complementary methods including MR-Egger regression, simple mode, weighted mode, and weighted median as corrections and supplements. Sensitivity analyses such as heterogeneity test, pleiotropy test, and leave-one-out analysis were also performed to assess the bias of the study. Results IVW MR analysis showed no effect of HIV infection on ED (IVW OR = 1.058, P = 0.462).The results of the MR-Egger regression, simple model, weighted model, and weighted median methods were consistent with those of the IVW method (P>0.1). Based on sensitivity analyses, horizontal pleiotropy was unlikely to distort causal estimates, although some heterogeneity existed. Conclusion Although observational studies have reported an association between HIV infection and erectile dysfunction, the results of our MR analysis do not support a causal relationship between HIV infection and erectile dysfunction.