Assessing the relationship between different sleep traits and retinal neurodegenerative diseases: A bidirectional...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Sleep Medicine
• Genetics

Background:

• Retinal neurodegenerative diseases (RNDs) like glaucoma, AMD, and DR pose significant public health challenges.
• The potential causal links between sleep traits and RNDs remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the causal relationships between key sleep traits (chronotype, sleep duration, insomnia) and major RNDs using a bidirectional Mendelian randomization approach.
• To explore potential mediating pathways between sleep traits and RNDs.

Main Methods:

• Bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis utilizing summary statistics from large genome-wide association studies (GWAS).
• Inverse variance weighting (IVW) as the primary analytical method, supplemented by sensitivity analyses to assess robustness.
• Mediation analysis to identify potential intermediate risk factors.

Main Results:

• A significant causal effect of chronotype on increased risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) was observed (OR: 1.60, p = 0.023).
• Reverse MR analyses indicated inverse associations between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and both short sleep duration and chronotype.
• Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.

Conclusions:

• Sleep traits, particularly chronotype, may represent modifiable risk factors for certain retinal neurodegenerative diseases, specifically diabetic retinopathy.
• Findings suggest potential targets for early prevention and intervention strategies aimed at reducing the burden of RNDs.
• Further research into the identified mediating factors could elucidate specific mechanisms linking sleep and RNDs.