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Chronic Salmonella Infection Induced Intestinal Fibrosis
Published on: September 22, 2019
Causal associations between inflammatory bowel disease and anxiety: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study
Ying He1,2, Chun-Lan Chen3, Jian He1
1Department of Gastroenterology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, Guangdong Province, China.
Background:
Anxiety is common in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including those with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD); however, the causal relationship between IBD and anxiety remains unknown.
Aim:
To investigate the causal relationship between IBD and anxiety by using bidirectional Mendelian randomization analysis.
Methods:
Single nucleotide polymorphisms retrieved from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of the European population were identified as genetic instrument variants. GWAS statistics for individuals with UC (6968 patients and 20464 controls; adults) and CD (5956 patients and 14927 controls; adults) were obtained from the International IBD Genetics Consortium. GWAS statistics for individuals with anxiety were obtained from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (2565 patients and 14745 controls; adults) and FinnGen project (20992 patients and 197800 controls; adults), respectively. Inverse-variance weighted was applied to assess the causal relationship, and the results were strengthened by heterogeneity, pleiotropy and leave-one-out analyses.
Results:
Genetic susceptibility to UC was associated with an increased risk of anxiety [odds ratio: 1.071 (95% confidence interval: 1.009-1.135), P = 0.023], while genetic susceptibility to CD was not associated with anxiety. Genetic susceptibility to anxiety was not associated with UC or CD. No heterogeneity or pleiotropy was observed, and the leave-one-out analysis excluded the potential influence of a particular variant.
Conclusion:
This study revealed that genetic susceptibility to UC was significantly associated with anxiety and highlighted the importance of early screening for anxiety in patients with UC.
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