Plasma Glutaminyl-Peptide Cyclotransferase Mediates Glucosamine-Metabolism-Driven Protection Against Hypertension: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for morbidity and mortality worldwide. In this study, Mendelian randomization was utilized to investigate how dietary supplement intake can impact hypertension based on circulating plasma metabolite genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets, protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) of plasma proteins, and multiple public summary-level GWAS data. Pathway enrichment analysis combined with the results of inverse variance weighted Mendelian randomization revealed that a lower risk of hypertension was associated with the dietary intake of glucosamine, an anti-inflammatory supplement: odds ratio (OR) (95% CI): 0.888 (0.824–0.958). Additionally, glucosamine 6-phosphate N-acetyltransferase was identified as a protective factor against hypertension, OR (95% CI): 0.995 (0.992–0.998), shedding light on the potential protective mechanism of glucosamine. Mediation Mendelian randomization indicated that the protective effect of glucosamine metabolism was mediated by glutaminyl-peptide cyclotransferase, with a mediation proportion of 12.1% (5.9–18.2%), p < 0.05. This study offers new insights into preventive strategies for individuals with hypertension risk.