Dairy Intake and Parkinson's Disease: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Previous prospective studies highlighted dairy intake as a risk factor for Parkinson's disease (PD), particularly in men. It is unclear whether this association is causal or explained by reverse causation or confounding.

The aim is to examine the association between genetically predicted dairy intake and PD using two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR).

We genotyped a well-established instrumental variable for dairy intake located in the lactase gene (rs4988235) within the Courage-PD consortium (23 studies; 9823 patients and 8376 controls of European ancestry).

Based on a dominant model, there was an association between genetic predisposition toward higher dairy intake and PD (odds ratio [OR] per one serving per day = 1.70, 95% confidence interval = 1.12-2.60, P = 0.013) that was restricted to men (OR = 2.50 [1.37-4.56], P = 0.003; P-difference with women = 0.029).

Using MR, our findings provide further support for a causal relationship between dairy intake and higher PD risk, not biased by confounding or reverse causation. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms. © 2022 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.