Causal relationships between 41 inflammatory cytokines and myopia: a Mendelian randomization study

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Immunology
• Genetics

Background:

• Myopia is a growing global health concern.
• The role of inflammatory cytokines in myopia development is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate potential causal associations between 41 inflammatory cytokines and myopia.
• To utilize a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) approach for robust causal inference.

Main Methods:

• Employed publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) datasets.
• Selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for inflammatory cytokines as instrumental variables (IVs).
• Utilized five MR methods including inverse-variance weighted (IVW) and sensitivity analyses.

Main Results:

• Macrophage inflammatory protein 1-α (MIP-1α) was associated with a reduced risk of myopia (OR=0.83).
• Eotaxin (OR=1.26), stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α; OR=1.68), and interleukin-2 receptor subunit alpha (IL-2Rα; OR=1.25) were associated with increased myopia risk.
• Sensitivity analyses confirmed the reliability of these findings.

Conclusions:

• Specific inflammatory cytokines have a causal relationship with myopia.
• MIP-1α may be protective, while eotaxin, SDF-1α, and IL-2Rα are risk factors.
• Highlights the role of inflammation in myopia pathogenesis, suggesting new therapeutic targets.