Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2025
Non-invasive Assessment of the Efficacy of New Therapeutics for Intestinal Pathologies Using Serial Endoscopic Imaging of Live Mice
Published on: March 10, 2015
Unraveling the link between plasma caffeine concentrations and inflammatory bowel disease risk through Mendelian
Hao Dong1, Fang Xu2, Enqiang Linghu1
1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, The First Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
Background:
Caffeine is believed to possess anti-inflammatory properties, yet direct population-based evidence regarding its impact on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains scarce.
Objectives:
In this study, we used 2-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study to investigate the causal relationship between long-term plasma caffeine concentrations and IBD and its subtypes, ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn disease (CD).
Methods:
We used single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with plasma caffeine concentrations at genome-wide significance within a ±100-kb range around the CYP1A2 or AHR genes as instrumental variables. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data for IBD and its subtypes were obtained from FinnGen and International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Genetics Consortium. We conducted a meta-analysis of MR-related SNPs from both sources and used a multiplicative inverse variance-weighted random effects model to combine the effects of each SNP proxy on exposure to outcomes.
Results:
In our study, genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine concentrations were associated with a lower risk of IBD, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.66, 0.91; PFDR = 0.004). This trend was also observed in UC and CD, with ORs of 0.79 (95% CI: 0.66, 0.94; PFDR = 0.014) and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.62, 0.98; PFDR = 0.032), respectively.
Conclusion:
Our study indicates a potential causal link between genetically predicted higher plasma caffeine concentrations and a reduced risk of IBD, including its subtypes UC and CD.
