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Exploring the association between gut microbiota and venous thromboembolism using a Mendelian randomization analysis.
Meijie Yuan1, Weiran Li1, Jian Sun1
1Department of Peripheral Vascular Surgery, Shuguang Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Archives of Medical Science : AMS
|May 11, 2026
Summary
This study investigated the causal link between gut microbiota and venous thromboembolism (VTE). Results indicate specific gut bacteria, like Ruminococcaceae, may causally influence VTE risk, paving the way for new treatments.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Observational studies suggest a link between gut microbiota (GM) and venous thromboembolism (VTE), but causality is unclear.
- Confounding factors limit understanding of the GM-VTE relationship.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bidirectional causal relationship between gut microbiota and VTE, including pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
- To identify specific gut bacteria causally associated with VTE, PE, and DVT.
Main Methods:
- Utilized summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) meta-analyses (FinnGen R9 for VTE, MiBioGen for GM SNPs).
- Employed the inverse variance weighting (IVW) method with SNPs as instrumental variables to assess causality.
- Performed Bonferroni correction for multiple testing and conducted heterogeneity and pleiotropy analyses (Cochran's Q, MR-Egger).
Main Results:
- Identified specific gut bacteria with significant causal associations with VTE, PE, and DVT.
- A significant causal relationship was confirmed between Ruminococcaceae and VTE after multiple corrections.
- Various bacterial taxa showed negative or positive correlations with VTE, PE, and DVT risk.
Conclusions:
- Specific gut microbiota compositions may causally influence the risk of VTE, PE, and DVT.
- Findings support the development of microbiota-centered therapies for VTE prevention.
- Potential for novel biomarkers for targeted VTE prevention strategies based on gut microbiota profiles.
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