BACKGROUNDIt remains unclear whether lipid profiles and lipid-lowering medications are causally related to PAD.OBJECTIVEExplain whether there is a causal relationship between lipid status and lipid-lowering drugs and PAD.METHODSIn this two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis, we assessed the causal relationship between lipid traits, including high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TGs), total cholesterol (TC), and LDL-associated genetic variants (HMGCR, NPC1L1, PCSK9, APOB), and the risk of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) using genetic variants associated with these lipid markers. The study analyzed data from 1,654,960 individuals derived from the Global Lipid Genetics Consortium and the UK Biobank, ensuring a robust and comprehensive genetic insight into the effects of lipid dysfunction on PAD.RESULTSWe found genetically predicted associations between HDL (OR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.83-0.77), LDL-c (OR: 1.29, 95% CI: 1.12-1.50), TC (OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.01- 1.29), TG (OR:1.16, 95% CI: 1.04-1.24), APOB (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.16-1.48), and APOA1 (OR:0.84, 95%CI: 0.77-0.97), and the risk of PAD. In addition, inhibition of PCSK9 was associated with a reduced risk of PAD (OR:0.68, 95% CI: 0.57-0.79, P<0.001), while no association between the other three gene proxies of LDL inhibition including HMGCR (OR=1.21, 95% CI: 0.87-1.69, P=0.250), NPC1L1 (OR:0.77, 95% CI:0.44-1.33, P=0.344), and APOB (OR:1.01, 95% CI:0.87-1.26, P=0.890), and the risk of PAD were found.CONCLUSIONSBased on genetic evidence, dyslipidemia is an important risk factor for PAD. PCSK9 inhibitors may be an effective strategy for the treatment of PAD.