Novel Causal Plasma Proteins for Hypothyroidism: A Large-scale Plasma Proteome Mendelian Randomization Analysis

Although several risk proteins for hypothyroidism have been reported in recent years, many more plasma proteins have not been tested.

To determine potential mechanisms and novel causal plasma proteins for hypothyroidism using Mendelian randomization (MR).

A large-scale plasma proteome MR analysis was conducted using protein quantitative trait loci (pQTLs) for 2297 plasma proteins. We classified pQTLs into 4 different groups. MR analyses were conducted within the 4 groups simultaneously. Significant proteins were discovered and validated in 2 different cohorts. Colocalization analysis and enrichment analysis were conducted using proteins found with MR.

Thirty-one proteins were identified in the discovery cohort. Among them, 13 were validated in the validation cohort. Nine of the 13 proteins are risk factors (ISG15, Fc receptor-like protein 2, tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily member 14, Rab-2A, FcRL3, thrombomodulin, interferon [IFN]-lambda-1, platelet glycoprotein Ib alpha chain, IL-7RA) for hypothyroidism, whereas others are protective proteins (protein O-glucosyltransferase 1 [POGLUT1], tumor necrosis factor ligand superfamily, 3-hydroxyisobutyryl-CoA hydrolase, transferrin receptor protein 1). Among the significant proteins, POGLUT1 strongly colocalized with expression quantitative trait loci from whole blood (posterior probability of colocalization [PP4] = 0.978) and the thyroid (PP4 = 0.978). Two different trans-pQTLs (rs2111485 PP4 = 0.998; rs35103715 PP4 = 0.998) for IFN-lambda-1 strongly colocalized with hypothyroidism in different chromosomes.

Thirteen various proteins were identified and validated to be associated with hypothyroidism using univariable MR. We reinforced and expanded the effect of IFN on hypothyroidism. Several proteins identified in this study could explain part of the association between the coagulation system and hypothyroidism. Our study broadens the causal proteins for hypothyroidism and provides the relationships between plasma proteins and hypothyroidism. The proteins identified in this study can be used as early screening biomarkers for hypothyroidism.