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Assessing causal relationships between gut microbiota and psoriasis: evidence from two sample Mendelian randomization
Yuan Li1, Gaihe Chen1, Xiaohuan Hu1
1Department of Dermatology, The Fifth People's Hospital of Hainan Province, Haikou, China.
Scientific Reports
|April 17, 2024
Summary
This study used Mendelian randomization to investigate the causal link between gut bacteria and psoriasis. Findings suggest specific gut microbial traits are associated with psoriasis risk, warranting further research into their role in disease development.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Dermatology
Background:
- The gut microbiota's influence on psoriasis pathogenesis is increasingly recognized, yet direct causal links remain unclear.
- Understanding the interplay between gut microbial composition and psoriasis susceptibility is crucial for developing novel therapeutic strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To employ a Mendelian randomization (MR) approach to investigate the potential causal relationship between gut microbiota composition and the risk of developing psoriasis.
- To identify specific bacterial taxa associated with psoriasis predisposition using genetic instrumental variables.
Main Methods:
- Utilized genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from large cohorts for gut microbiota (18,340 individuals) and psoriasis (337,159 cases, 433,201 controls).
- Applied inverse variance weighting (IVW) as the primary analysis method, supplemented by weighted median and MR-Egger regression for robustness.
- Performed sensitivity analyses to confirm the reliability of identified associations.
Main Results:
- Identified statistically significant associations between eight specific bacterial traits and psoriasis risk.
- Examples include a positive association with Mollicutes (OR=1.003, p=0.016) and Tenericutes (OR=1.003, p=0.016), and negative associations with Victivallaceae (OR=0.998, p=0.023) and Eubacterium (coprostanoligenes group) (OR=0.997, p=0.027).
- Sensitivity analyses corroborated these findings, reinforcing the link between these bacterial taxa and psoriasis.
Conclusions:
- The study provides evidence supporting a potential causal role for specific gut microbial communities in the development of psoriasis.
- These findings highlight the gut microbiota as a significant factor in psoriasis pathogenesis and suggest avenues for future research.
- Further investigation is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which gut microbes influence psoriasis onset and progression.
