Causal relationship between schizophrenia and sex hormone binding globulin: A Mendelian randomization study

The underlying etiology of schizophrenia is still not fully understood, and recent studies have pointed to a potential link between hormonal factors and the risk of developing this condition. Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG) is a protein that regulates the bioavailability of sex hormones. However, the causal relationship between SHBG levels and schizophrenia remains unclear, this study aimed to investigate the causal relationship based on two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

This study was based on the summary data of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of schizophrenia and SHBG in European populations. Two-sample MR was applied, and genetic factors were used as instrumental variables, and the causal relationship between schizophrenia and SHBG was assessed.

We selected 79 single nucleotide polymorphisms with genome-wide significance from the schizophrenia GWAS as instrumental variables. The inverse variance weighting (IVW) method results showed that there is a causal relationship and a positive correlation between schizophrenia and female SHBG, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.024 (95%CI: 1.007-1.042, P = 0.005), and this result was further confirmed by the Weighted median odds ratio (OR) of 1.032 (95%CI: 1.016-1.048, P = 5.58E-05) and the Weighted mode of 1.035 (95%CI: 1.004-1.067, P = 0.028). Schizophrenia and male SHBG also have a causal relationship and a positive correlation, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.027 (95%CI: 1.007-1.047, P = 0.008).

This study found a positive correlation between schizophrenia and SHBG in both men and women through MR analysis, indicating that the level of SHBG may be elevated in patients with schizophrenia, regardless of gender.