Association between gut microbiota and malignant cardiac tumors: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Area of Science:

• Microbiome research
• Oncology
• Genetics

Background:

• Emerging evidence links gut microbiota to various cancers.
• A definitive causal link between gut microbiota and cardiac tumors requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the potential causal relationship between the human gut microbiota and malignant cardiac tumors using a two-sample Mendelian randomization approach.

Main Methods:

• Utilized genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data for gut microbiota and cardiac tumors from the IEU Open GWAS project.
• Employed two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis on data from 14,306 individuals for microbiota and 174,108 for cardiac tumors.
• Conducted comprehensive sensitivity analyses including Cochran's Q test, MR-PRESSO, MR-Egger, directionality, and leave-one-out analyses to ensure robustness.

Main Results:

• Identified seven distinct causal associations between gut microbial genetic susceptibility and cardiac tumor incidence.
• Found that Family Rikenellaceae, Eubacterium brachy group, and Ruminococcaceae UCG009 are associated with increased cardiac tumor risk.
• Discovered that Verrucomicrobia, Lactobacillus, Ruminiclostridium5, and an unknown genus (id.1868) are associated with a reduced risk of cardiac tumors.

Conclusions:

• The phylum Verrucomicrobia demonstrates a protective effect against cardiac tumors.
• The genus Ruminococcaceae UCG009 is causally associated with an increased risk of developing cardiac tumors.