Huang M, Wu Y, Li Y, Chen X, Feng J, Li Z, Li J, Chen J, Lu Y, Feng Y. Circadian clock-related genome-wide mendelian randomization identifies putatively genes for ulcerative colitis and its comorbidity.
BMC Genomics 2024;
25:130. [PMID:
38302916 PMCID:
PMC10832088 DOI:
10.1186/s12864-024-10003-z]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Circadian rhythm is crucial to the function of the immune system. Disorders of the circadian rhythm can contribute to inflammatory diseases such as Ulcerative colitis (UC). This Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis applies genetic tools to represent the aggregated statistical results of exposure to circadian rhythm disorders and UC and its comorbidities, allowing for causal inferences.
METHODS
Summary statistics of protein, DNA methylation and gene expression quantitative trait loci in individuals of European ancestry (pQTL, mQTL, and eQTL, respectively) were used. Genetic variants located within or near 152 circadian clock-related genes and closely related to circadian rhythm disorders were selected as instrumental variables. Causal relationships with UC and its comorbidities were then estimated through employed Summary data-based Mendelian Randomization (SMR) and Inverse-Variance-Weighted MR (IVW-MR).
RESULTS
Through preliminary SMR analysis, we identified a potential causal relationship between circadian clock-related genes and UC along with its comorbidities, which was further confirmed by IVW-MR analysis. Our study identified strong evidence of positive correlation involving seven overlapping genes (CSNK1E, OPRL1, PIWIL2, RORC, MAX, PPP5C, and AANAT) through MWAS and TWAS in UC, four overlapping genes (OPRL1, CHRNB2, FBXL17, and SIRT1) in UC with PSC, and three overlapping genes (ARNTL, USP7, and KRAS) in UC with arthropathy.
CONCLUSIONS
This SMR study demonstrates the causal effect of circadian rhythm disorders in UC and its comorbidities. Furthermore, our investigation pinpointed candidate genes that could potentially serve as drug targets.
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