Third, we used protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) for 218 drug-target proteins as instruments for MR and found evidence for causal associations of 9 plasma proteins with stroke risk (4 cis-pQTL and 6 trans-pQTL), of which 7 were supported by colocalization analyses, with no evidence for reverse causation using the Steiger test (PROC, VCAM1, F11, KLKB1, MMP12, GP1BA and LAMC2; Supplementary Table 33). The gene discussed is VCAM1; the disease is stroke disorder.