Dietary intake and periodontal health: Evidence from a Mendelian randomization analysis

ObjectiveThis study aimed to systematically examine the causal relationships between 19 common dietary factors and the risk of periodontal disease, thereby providing reliable evidence for targeted nutritional interventions.MethodsGenetic instruments for dietary exposures (e.g. alcohol, meats, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and beverages) were derived from the UK Biobank Genome-Wide Association Study database (N = 421,764-462,630). Outcome data included 97,830 periodontal disease cases and 272,252 controls from FinnGen biobank. Inverse-variance weighted regression served as the primary analysis, supplemented by weighted median and Mendelian randomization-Egger methods for the assessment of pleiotropy and heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses included Mendelian randomization-Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier for outlier correction and false discovery rate adjustment.ResultsAfter false discovery rate correction and Mendelian randomization-Pleiotropy Residual Sum and Outlier adjustment, inverse-variance weighted analysis identified the following three significant causal associations for periodontal disease risk: higher cheese intake reduced the risk (odds ratio = 0.807, 95% confidence interval: 0.714-0.912); higher lamb/mutton consumption increased the risk (odds ratio = 1.463, 95% confidence interval: 1.138-1.880); and habitual added-salt intake elevated the risk (odds ratio = 1.198, 95% confidence interval: 1.081-1.327). No significant associations were found for the remaining 16 dietary factors.ConclusionThis Mendelian randomization study provides robust evidence showing that cheese consumption may protect against periodontal disease, whereas lamb/mutton and high added-salt intake elevate the risk.