Evidence for genetic causal relationships between gut microbiome, metabolites, and myasthenia gravis: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Bibliographic Details
Title: Evidence for genetic causal relationships between gut microbiome, metabolites, and myasthenia gravis: a bidirectional Mendelian randomization study
Authors: Dandan Sheng, Song Wang, Peihong Li, Jiaxin Li, Zheng Xiao, Hui Lv, Weiping Liu, Bo Xiao, Luo Zhou
Source: Frontiers in Immunology, Vol 14 (2023)
Publisher Information: Frontiers Media S.A., 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Immunologic diseases. Allergy
Subject Terms: gut microbiome, myasthenia gravis, metabolites, Mendelian randomization, causal effect, neuroimmunology, Immunologic diseases. Allergy, RC581-607
More Details: BackgroundMyasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease observed to have connections with gut microbiome. We aimed to systematically assess the causal relationships between gut microbiome, gut microbiome-derived metabolites, and MG using Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.MethodsSummary-level genetic datasets from large-scale genome-wide association studies regarding 196 gut microbial taxa from the MiBioGen consortium (n=18,340), 72 derived metabolites from the TwinsUK and KORA studies (n=7,824), and antiacetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody-positive MG (case=1,873, control=36,370) were employed for MR causal estimates. The inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was utilized as the main analysis with MR-Egger, maximum likelihood, simple mode, and weighted median as complements. The tests of Cochran’s Q, MR-Egger intercept, Steiger, MR-PRESSO and leave-one-out were implemented for sensitivity analyses.ResultsThe forward MR estimates of IVW revealed significant causal associations of the abundance of phylum Actinobacteria, class Gammaproteobacteria, family Defluviitaleac, family Family XIII, and family Peptococcaceae with a reduced risk of MG. Conversely, the abundance of phylum Lentisphaerae, order Mollicutes RF9, order Victivallales, and genus Faecalibacterium was causally associated with an increased risk of MG. The reversed MR analysis proved negative causal correlations between the MG and the abundance of family Peptostreptococcaceae, genus Romboutsia, and genus Subdoligranulum. Regarding the derived metabolites, the IVW estimates revealed that elevated levels of beta-hydroxyisovalerate and methionine were causally associated with a decreased risk of MG, while increased levels of choline and kynurenine were linked to an increased risk of MG. Furthermore, genetically predicted MG was associated with a decreased level of cholesterol. The results obtained from complementary MR methods were similar. These findings remained robust in all sensitivity analyses.ConclusionOur MR findings support the causal effects of specific gut microbiome taxa and derived metabolites on AChR antibody-positive MG, and vice versa, yielding novel insights into prevention and therapy targets of MG. Future studies may be warranted for validation and pursuing the precise mechanisms.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1664-3224
Relation: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1279845/full; https://doaj.org/toc/1664-3224
DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1279845
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/c8695a6c5e5e42508109a2565d2108de
Accession Number: edsdoj.8695a6c5e5e42508109a2565d2108de
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:16643224
DOI:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1279845
Published in:Frontiers in Immunology
Language:English