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Published on: August 7, 2017
Causal Association Between Multidimensional Plasma Lipid Composition and Pediatric Asthma: A Mendelian Randomization
1Department of Pediatrics, Children Hematological Oncology and Birth Defects Laboratory, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Birth Defects, Luzhou, Sichuan, China.
Insights
This study found a causal link between specific plasma lipids and childhood asthma, offering new insights for prevention and treatment strategies. Further research into these lipid disorders could improve pediatric asthma management.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Metabolomics
- Genetic Epidemiology
Background:
- Childhood asthma is a prevalent chronic disease with significant health implications.
- Observational studies suggest a link between lipid disorders and asthma in children, but causality remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the causal relationship between serum lipid profiles and childhood asthma using a robust methodology.
- To identify specific plasma lipids that may causally influence the risk of developing childhood asthma.
Main Methods:
- Employed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach utilizing large-scale genome-wide association study summary statistics.
- Applied the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method as the primary analysis, with sensitivity analyses including Cochran's Q test, MR-Egger intercept, Steiger's test, and reverse MR to assess heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and directionality.
Main Results:
- Identified a causal association between six plasma lipids and childhood asthma.
- Found negative associations for Diacylglycerol (16:0_18:2), Triacylglycerol (52:4), Phosphatidylcholine (18:2_20:3), and sterol ester (27:1/22:6).
- Observed positive associations for Phosphatidylcholine (16:0_22:5) and sterol ester (27:1/20:4) with pediatric asthma. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.
Conclusions:
- This Mendelian randomization study provides evidence for a causal link between specific plasma liposomes and childhood asthma.
- These findings offer novel perspectives for future prevention and therapeutic strategies targeting lipid metabolism in pediatric asthma.
Background:
Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children and poses a major threat to their health. Observational studies have shown lipid disorders in children with asthma. However, it was not possible to determine whether there is a causal link between the two. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the causal relationship between serum liposomes and asthma in children.
Methods:
We used large-scale publicly available genome-wide association study summary statistics to elucidate causal associations between plasma liposomes and children using a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach. The IVW method was used as the primary analysis method, and tests such as the Cochran Q test, MR-Egger intercept, and leave-one-out method were utilized to explore whether there was heterogeneity and pleiotropy in the MR results. In addition, Steiger's test and reverse MR analysis were performed to test the directionality of the MR results.
Results:
Our MR results identified a causal link between six plasma liposomes and childhood asthma. Among them, negative association between Diacylglycerol (16:0_18:2) (OR = 0.952, 95%CI = 0.913-0.992, p = 0.018), Triacylglycerol (52:4) (OR = 0.949, 95%CI = 0.905-0.994, p = 0.028), Phosphatidylcholine (18:2_20:3) (OR = 0.915, 95%CI = 0.843-0.993, p = 0.034), sterol ester (27:1/22:6) (OR = 0.929, 95% CI = 0.869-0.994, p = 0.031) and childhood asthma. There is a positive association between Phosphatidylcholine (16:0_22:5) (OR = 1.061, 95%CI = 1.006-1.120, p = 0.030), sterol ester (27:1/20:4) (OR = 1.046, 95% CI = 1.021-1.072, p = 0.0003) and pediatric asthma. A series of sensitivity tests also demonstrate the robustness of the results.
Conclusion:
This MR study identified a causal link between some plasma liposomes and childhood asthma. This will provide new perspectives on the prevention and treatment of childhood asthma in the future.
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