Distinct gut microbiota profiles in acute vs. chronic sinusitis: potential biomarkers

This study explored the causal association between genetically predicted gut microbiota and sinusitis.

This two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study used summary data from genome-wide association studies of gut microbiota (n = 211) and acute and chronic sinusitis. The main analysis was conducted using the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method as primary statistical analysis, with robustness tested using the weighted median, weighted mode, and MR-Egger regression methods. Sensitivity analyses included MR-Egger, MR-PRESSO, Cochran's Q, and leave-one-out for the detection of heterogeneity and pleiotropy.

Suggestive associations with acute sinusitis were identified for order Rhodospirillales (OR = 1.20, P = 0.01) and family Prevotellaceae (OR = 1.19, P = 0.02). Protective associations included genus Subdoligranulum (OR = 0.78, P = 0.01). For chronic sinusitis, significant associations were found for genus Coprobacter (OR = 1.23, P = 0.01), while protective associations included family Defluviitaleaceae (OR = 0.84, P = 0.04) and genus Tyzzerella3 (OR = 0.87, P = 0.011). Additional significant protective associations were observed across various other taxa, including order Burkholderiales and family Erysipelotrichaceae. However, none of these associations remained statistically significant after FDR correction. Sensitivity analyses supported the overall robustness of the findings.

This MR study provides exploratory evidence for potential associations between gut microbiota and sinusitis subtypes. Although these findings did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing, they highlight distinct microbial patterns in acute versus chronic sinusitis and may serve as hypotheses for future research. Further studies with larger cohorts are required to validate these associations and assess their clinical relevance.