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Abstract: SA-PO914

Cannabis Use and CKD: Epidemiological Associations and Mendelian Randomization

Session Information

Category: CKD (Non-Dialysis)

  • 2202 CKD (Non-Dialysis): Clinical‚ Outcomes‚ and Trials

Authors

  • Dellepiane, Sergio, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Gulamali, Faris F., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Chan, Lili, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Rein, Joshua L., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Do, Ron, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Coca, Steven G., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Glicksberg, Benjamin S., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
  • Nadkarni, Girish N., Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States
Background

The association between cannabis use and chronic kidney disease (CKD) is controversial. We aimed to assess association of kidney traits with cannabis use in one of the largest cohort studies in the United States and then assess causality using Mendelian Randomization (MR) with genome wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics

Methods

In the retrospective study (n=315,297) we conducted an association analysis to test for frequency of cannabis use and CKD. To evaluate causal associations, we performed a two sample MR from a GWAS of cannabis use disorder (n=384,032 – exposure GWAS) and an outcome GWAS of CKD (n=1.2 million).

Results

In the observational study, compared to never users, less than monthly (OR 1.01, 95% CI 0.87 - 1.18 p = 0.867) and monthly cannabis users (OR 1.15, 95% CI 0.86 – 1.15, p = 0.327) did not have higher CKD odds. Conversely, weekly (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.60, p = 0.0355) and daily use (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.04 – 1.50, p = 0.018) were significantly associated to CKD, adjusted for multiple confounders. In MR, genetic liability to cannabis use disorder was not associated with increased odds for CKD (OR=1.00, 95% CI: 0.99 – 1.01, P = 0.96). These results were robust across different MR techniques and considering multiple kidney related traits (cystatin-C and creatinine-based kidney function, proteinuria, and blood urea nitrogen).

Conclusion

We conducted the largest observational study to date and the first MR about the association between cannabis and CKD. Although there was an epidemiological association between frequent cannabis use and CKD, there was no evidence of a causal association indicating confounding in observational studies.