Causal effects of gut microbiota on the risk of osteomyelitis: a Mendelian randomization study

Osteomyelitis is characterized by an inflammatory process initiated by microorganisms, leading to infection and subsequent degradation of bone tissue. Several studies have indicated a potential link between gut microbiota and the occurrence of osteomyelitis. Utilizing the benefits of Mendelian randomization, which mitigates issues of confounding and reverse causation, we employed this approach to ascertain the presence of a causal connection between gut microbiota and osteomyelitis. Additionally, we aimed to pinpoint gut microbiota that could potentially exert substantial influence.

We performed a rigorous screening of single nucleotide polymorphisms in GWAS summary statistics for gut microbiota and osteomyelitis. The 2,542 instrumental variables obtained after screening were subjected to MR analyses, including inverse variance weighting, weighted median, weighted mode, MR-Egger, and Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier test. We then validated the reliability of the results by performing sensitivity analyses on the MR of 196 well-defined gut microbiota.

We established a causal relationship between gut microbiota and osteomyelitis through MR analysis. Additionally, we identified a taxon of significant importance and six taxons with nominal significance. Specifically, the family Bacteroidales S24.7 group exhibited an association with a diminished risk of osteomyelitis development. Conversely, the class Bacilli, class Bacteroidia, order Bacteroidales, order Lactobacillales, family Streptococcaceae, and genus Coprococcus3 displayed an increased risk of developing osteomyelitis. The MR outcomes for these seven taxa remained stable throughout a series of sensitivity analyses.

This study demonstrated a causal relationship between gut microbiota and osteomyelitis by Mendelian randomization. We hope that this study will provide a new direction for the treatment of osteomyelitis, which has a paucity of therapeutic options.