Causal relationship between amino acids and ovarian cancer in the European population: A bidirectional Mendelian...

In recent years, an increasing number of observational studies have reported the impact of amino acids on ovarian cancer. However, Mendelian randomization studies have not yet been conducted to explore the causal relationship between them in the context of ovarian cancer. This study conducted Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of 20 amino acids in relation to ovarian cancer data from 2 different sources within the European population, using a two-sample MR approach. The primary results from the inverse variance weighting analysis were then subjected to a meta-analysis, followed by multiple testing correction for the meta-analysis thresholds. Finally, reverse causality testing was performed on the positively associated amino acids and ovarian cancer. MR analyses were conducted for 20 amino acids with ovarian cancer data from both the Finngen R10 and Open genome-wide association study databases. The inverse variance weighted results from these 2 analyses were then combined through meta-analysis, with multiple corrections applied to the significance thresholds of the meta-analysis results. The findings showed that only cysteine had a significant association with ovarian cancer, with an (odds ratio) odds ratio value of 0.507 (95% confidence interval: 0.335-0.767, P = .025). The P-value of the combined MR and meta-analysis, after multiple testing correction, was 0.025, indicating statistical significance (P < .05). Additionally, cysteine did not show a reverse causal relationship with ovarian cancer in either data source. Cysteine is a protective factor for ovarian cancer, potentially reducing the risk of ovarian cancer and slowing the progression of the disease.