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Evaluating the Causal Association Between Educational Attainment and Asthma Using a Mendelian Randomization Design.
Yunxia Li1, Wenhao Chen1, Shiyao Tian1
1Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Central Hospital, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China.
Frontiers in Genetics
|August 26, 2021
Summary
Higher educational attainment is linked to a reduced risk of asthma. This Mendelian randomization study suggests that each additional year of education significantly lowers asthma prevalence, highlighting a protective effect.
Area of Science:
- Genetics and Epidemiology
- Public Health Research
Background:
- Asthma is a prevalent chronic respiratory condition.
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified common genetic variants for asthma.
- The causal relationship between socioeconomic status and asthma risk remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the potential causal association between educational attainment and asthma risk.
- To leverage large-scale GWAS data and Mendelian randomization (MR) design for causal inference.
Main Methods:
- Utilized 162 independent genetic variants for educational attainment as instrumental variables.
- Employed large GWAS datasets for educational attainment (n=405,072) and asthma (n=30,810).
- Conducted MR analysis using inverse-variance weighted, weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO methods, including pleiotropy tests.
Main Results:
- A significant inverse association was found: each 1-standard deviation increase in educational attainment (3.6 years) was associated with a 35% reduction in asthma risk (OR=0.65, P=0.001).
- Consistent protective effects were observed across multiple MR methods (weighted median, MR-PRESSO).
- Multivariable MR analysis suggested educational attainment protects against asthma risk, potentially mediated by cognitive performance.
Conclusions:
- Educational attainment demonstrates a significant protective role against asthma.
- Findings suggest potential public health implications for asthma prevention strategies.
- Further research is warranted to explore the mechanisms underlying this association.
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