Association Between Periodontitis and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Two-Sample Mendelian Randomisation Study

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Health
• Periodontology
• Genetic Epidemiology

Background:

• Periodontitis is a common oral infection.
• Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) pose significant risks to maternal and infant health.
• The potential causal link between periodontitis and APOs requires rigorous investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causal relationship between periodontitis (acute and chronic) and adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs).
• APOs studied include low birthweight (LBW), pre-term birth (PTB), stillbirth, miscarriage, and gestational hypertension (GH).
• The study also examined the converse relationship: APOs influencing periodontitis.

Main Methods:

• Mendelian randomization (MR) study design utilizing genetic variants for periodontitis.
• Data sourced from Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) databases of European descent.
• Primary analysis employed the Inverse Variance Weighted (IVW) method, with MR-Egger for sensitivity analysis.

Main Results:

• No significant causal effect of periodontitis on PTB, stillbirth, miscarriage, or GH was detected by IVW or MR-Egger.
• A statistically significant association between chronic periodontitis and LBW was observed (OR 1.410, P=0.028) using IVW.
• Sensitivity analyses indicated caution in interpreting the chronic periodontitis-LBW link due to non-significant results from other methods.

Conclusions:

• The study's findings do not establish a causal influence of periodontitis on most APOs, including LBW, PTB, stillbirth, miscarriage, and GH.
• The observed association between chronic periodontitis and LBW warrants further investigation.
• Limitations of the MR approach necessitate careful interpretation of the results.