Objective  To analyze the causal relationship between statins and type 1 or type 2 diabetes mellitus by using Mendelian randomization (MR).

Methods  Based on the collected data of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), which were independent of each other and highly correlated with statins and diabetes mellitus, were selected as tool variables. MR-Egger regression, weighted median, inverse variance weighting (IVW), simple mode and weighted mode were used for two-sample MR analyses to evaluate the causal relationship between statins and type 1 or type 2 diabetes  respectively, and heterogeneity tests, multiplicity analyses, and sensitivity analysis to evaluate the reliability of the study.

Results  A total of 78 SNPs independently associated with statins were included as tool variables in this study at the genome-wide significance level (P<5×10^-8). The results of IVW analysis showed that statins were causally associated with an increased risk of type 1 diabetes mellitus (OR=1.524, 95%CI 1.077 to 2.157, P=0.017), and there was also a causal relationship between statins and the increased risk of type 2 diabetes (OR=1.261, 95%CI 1.165 to 1.366, P<0.001). The results were not affected by multiplicity and heterogeneity, and the reliability of the results was verified by sensitivity analysis.

Conclusion  Statins may be a risk factor for increasing the risk of type 1 or type 2 diabetes. However, further studies with larger sample sizes of GWAS data are still needed to verify the causal association.

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