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Li Y, Lei H, Wen X, Cao H. A powerful approach to identify replicable variants in genome-wide association studies. Am J Hum Genet 2024; 111:966-978. [PMID: 38701746 PMCID: PMC11080610 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.04.004] [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: 08/19/2023] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 05/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Replicability is the cornerstone of modern scientific research. Reliable identifications of genotype-phenotype associations that are significant in multiple genome-wide association studies (GWASs) provide stronger evidence for the findings. Current replicability analysis relies on the independence assumption among single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and ignores the linkage disequilibrium (LD) structure. We show that such a strategy may produce either overly liberal or overly conservative results in practice. We develop an efficient method, ReAD, to detect replicable SNPs associated with the phenotype from two GWASs accounting for the LD structure. The local dependence structure of SNPs across two heterogeneous studies is captured by a four-state hidden Markov model (HMM) built on two sequences of p values. By incorporating information from adjacent locations via the HMM, our approach provides more accurate SNP significance rankings. ReAD is scalable, platform independent, and more powerful than existing replicability analysis methods with effective false discovery rate control. Through analysis of datasets from two asthma GWASs and two ulcerative colitis GWASs, we show that ReAD can identify replicable genetic loci that existing methods might otherwise miss.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Li
- School of Computer Science and Technology, Changchun University of Science and Technology, Changchun, Jilin 130022, China; School of Mathematics, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin 130012, China
| | - Haochen Lei
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA
| | - Xiaoquan Wen
- Department of Biostatistics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Hongyuan Cao
- Department of Statistics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA.
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Jing S, Wang J, Yang S, Wu H. Interleukin-6 signaling pathway in Mendelian randomization: A 10-year bibliometric analysis. Medicine (Baltimore) 2024; 103:e37507. [PMID: 38579070 PMCID: PMC10994451 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000037507] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Interleukin 6 (IL-6), a pleiotropic cytokine, is crucial in a variety of inflammatory and immunological disorders. In recent years, mendelian randomization, which is a widely used and successful method of analyzing causality, has recently been investigated for the relationship between the IL-6 pathway and related diseases. However, no studies have been conducted to review the research hotspots and trends in the field of IL-6 signaling pathway in Mendelian randomization. In this study, the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) served as our literature source database to gather articles about the IL-6 signaling pathway in Mendelian randomization from 2013 to 2023. VOSviewer (version 1.6.18), Microsoft Excel 2021, and Scimago Graphica were employed for bibliometric and visualization analysis. A total of 164 documents that were written by 981 authors coming from 407 institutions across 41 countries and published in 107 journals were located from January 2013 to August 2023. With 64 and 25, respectively, England and the University of Bristol had the highest number of publications. Frontiers in Immunology is the most prolific journal, and Golam M Khandaker has published the highest number of significant articles. The most co-cited article was an article entitled the interleukin-6 receptor as a target for prevention of coronary-heart-disease: a Mendelian randomization analysis, written by Daniel I Swerdlow. The most popular keywords were "mendelian randomization," "interleukin-6," "il-6," "c-reactive protein," "association," "coronary-heart-disease," "inflammation," "instruments," "risk," "rheumatoid arthritis," "depression." The full extent of the existing literature over the last 10 years is systematically revealed in this study, which can provide readers with a valuable reference for fully comprehending the research hotspots and trends in the field of IL-6 signaling pathway in Mendelian randomization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shaoze Jing
- Department of Orthopedics, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China
| | - Jiani Wang
- Department of Pediatrics, Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, China
| | - Shuhan Yang
- Department of Orthopedics, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China
| | - Hua Wu
- Department of Orthopedics, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Taiyuan, China
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Guerrero SC, Panettieri RA, Rastogi D. Mechanistic Links Between Obesity and Airway Pathobiology Inform Therapies for Obesity-Related Asthma. Paediatr Drugs 2023; 25:283-299. [PMID: 36656428 PMCID: PMC11071627 DOI: 10.1007/s40272-022-00554-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2022] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
Obesity-related asthma is associated with a high disease burden and a poor response to existent asthma therapies, suggesting that it is a distinct asthma phenotype. The proposed mechanisms that contribute to obesity-related asthma include the effects of the mechanical load of obesity, adipokine perturbations, and immune dysregulation. Each of these influences airway smooth muscle function. Mechanical fat load alters airway smooth muscle stretch affecting airway wall geometry, airway smooth muscle contractility, and agonist delivery; weight loss strategies, including medically induced weight loss, counter these effects. Among the metabolic disturbances, insulin resistance and free fatty acid receptor activation influence distinct signaling pathways in the airway smooth muscle downstream of both the M2 muscarinic receptor and the β2 adrenergic receptor, such as phospholipase C and the extracellular signal-regulated kinase signaling cascade. Medications that decrease insulin resistance and dyslipidemia are associated with a lower asthma disease burden. Leptin resistance is best understood to modulate muscarinic receptors via the neural pathways but there are no specific therapies for leptin resistance. From the immune perspective, monocytes and T helper cells are involved in systemic pro-inflammatory profiles driven by obesity, notably associated with elevated levels of interleukin-6. Clinical trials on tocilizumab, an anti-interleukin antibody, are ongoing for obesity-related asthma. This armamentarium of therapies is distinct from standard asthma medications, and once investigated for its efficacy and safety among children, will serve as a novel therapeutic intervention for pediatric obesity-related asthma. Irrespective of the directionality of the association between asthma and obesity, airway-specific mechanistic studies are needed to identify additional novel therapeutic targets for obesity-related asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Cabrera Guerrero
- Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Children's National Hospital, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20010, USA
| | - Reynold A Panettieri
- Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Deepa Rastogi
- Division of Pediatric Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, Children's National Hospital, George Washington University, 111 Michigan Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20010, USA.
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Hui Q, Hao Y, Ye F, Pang B, Niu W, Zhang Q. Genetically high angiotensin-converting enzyme concentrations causally increase asthma risk: A meta-analysis using Mendelian randomization. Front Med (Lausanne) 2022; 9:941944. [DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2022.941944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
ObjectivesThis meta-analysis aimed to test the association of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene I/D polymorphism with asthma risk and circulating ACE changes.MethodsPublic literature retrieval, publication selection, and information extraction were completed independently by two investigators. Effect-size values are expressed as odds ratios (ORs) or standardized mean differences (SMDs) with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI).ResultsNineteen studies (2,888 patients and 9,549 controls) fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Overall investigations demonstrated that ACE gene I/D polymorphism was significantly associated with asthma risk under allelic (OR, 95% CI: 1.26, 1.08 to 1.48), homozygous genotypic (1.50, 1.09 to 2.06), and recessive (1.53, 1.24 to 1.89) models with moderate heterogeneity (I2 statistic: 64% to 79%). Subsidiary investigations recorded that race, matched status, asthma diagnosis, sample size, and age possibly accounted for the existence of significant heterogeneity. Relative to carriers with the II genotype, those with the DD genotype, ID genotype, and the combination of DD and ID genotypes had significantly higher concentrations of circulating ACE (WMD: 3.13, 2.07, and 2.83 U/L, respectively, p < 0.05). Adoption of Mendelian randomization analyses revealed that one unit increment in circulating ACE concentrations was found to be significantly associated with a 1.14-fold increased risk of asthma (95% CI: 1.02 to 4.24).ConclusionWe provided strong meta-analytical evidence supporting the causal implication of high circulating ACE concentrations in the development of asthma.
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Mikkelsen H, Landt EM, Benn M, Nordestgaard BG, Dahl M. Causal risk factors for asthma in Mendelian randomization studies: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Transl Allergy 2022; 12:e12207. [PMID: 36434743 PMCID: PMC9640961 DOI: 10.1002/clt2.12207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Revised: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 10/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Several risk factors for asthma have been proposed; however, the causality of these associations is sometimes unclear. Mendelian randomization is a powerful epidemiological approach that can help elucidate the causality of risk factors. The aim of the present study was to identify causal risk factors for asthma through Mendelian Randomization studies. METHODS A systematic search of PubMed and EMBASE was conducted, to identify studies investigating risk factors for asthma or respiratory allergies through Mendelian Randomization. When two or more studies investigated the same risk factor a meta-analysis was conducted. Of 239 studies initially identified, 41 were included. RESULTS A causal association between adiposity and adult asthma risk was found in 10 out of 12 studies with a summary risk ratio of 1.05 per kg/m2 increase in BMI (95% CI: 1.03-1.07). Puberty timing (n = 3), alcohol (n = 2), and linoleic acid (n = 1) had causal effects on asthma risk, while vitamins/minerals (n = 6) showed no consistent effect on asthma. The effect of smoking on adult asthma conflicted between studies. Several of the significant associations of asthma with immune related proteins (n = 5) and depression (n = 2) investigated through multiple traits analyses could generally benefit from replications in independent datasets. CONCLUSION This systematic review and meta-analysis found evidence for causal effects of adiposity, puberty timing, linoleic acid, alcohol, immune related proteins, and depression on risk of asthma.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Mikkelsen
- Department of Clinical BiochemistryZealand University HospitalKøgeDenmark,Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Eskild Morten Landt
- Department of Clinical BiochemistryZealand University HospitalKøgeDenmark,Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Marianne Benn
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark,Department of Clinical BiochemistryRigshospitaletCopenhagen University HospitalCopenhagenDenmark
| | - Børge Grønne Nordestgaard
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark,Department of Clinical BiochemistryHerlev and Gentofte HospitalCopenhagen University HospitalHerlevDenmark
| | - Morten Dahl
- Department of Clinical BiochemistryZealand University HospitalKøgeDenmark,Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical SciencesUniversity of CopenhagenCopenhagenDenmark
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Obesity-related biomarkers underlie a shared genetic architecture between childhood body mass index and childhood asthma. Commun Biol 2022; 5:1098. [PMID: 36253437 PMCID: PMC9576683 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-04070-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Obesity and asthma are both common diseases with high population burden worldwide. Recent genetic association studies have shown that obesity is associated with asthma in adults. The relationship between childhood obesity and childhood asthma, and the underlying mechanisms linking obesity to asthma remain to be clarified. In the present study, leveraging large-scale genetic data from UK biobank and several other data sources, we investigated the shared genetic components between body mass index (BMI, n = 39620) in children and childhood asthma (ncase = 10524, ncontrol = 373393). We included GWAS summary statistics for nine obesity-related biomarkers to evaluate potential biological mediators underlying obesity and asthma. We found a genetic correlation (Rg = 0.10, P = 0.02) between childhood BMI and childhood asthma, whereas the genetic correlation between adult BMI (n = 371541) and childhood asthma was null (Rg = -0.03, P = 0.21). Genomic structural equation modeling analysis further provided evidence that the genetic effect of childhood BMI on childhood asthma (standardized effect size 0.17, P = 0.009) was not driven by the genetic component of adult BMI. Bayesian colocalization analysis identified a shared causal variant rs12436181 that was mapped to gene AMN using gene expression data in lung tissue. Mendelian randomization showed that the odds ratio of childhood asthma for one standard deviation higher of childhood BMI was 1.13 (95% confidence interval: 0.96-1.34). A systematic survey of obesity-related biomarkers showed that IL-6 and adiponectin are potential biological mediators linking obesity and asthma in children. This large-scale genetic study provides evidence that unique childhood obesity pathways could lead to childhood asthma. The findings shed light on childhood asthma pathogenic mechanisms and prevention.
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Liu C, Makrinioti H, Saglani S, Bowman M, Lin LL, Camargo CA, Hasegawa K, Zhu Z. Microbial dysbiosis and childhood asthma development: Integrated role of the airway and gut microbiome, environmental exposures, and host metabolic and immune response. Front Immunol 2022; 13:1028209. [PMID: 36248891 PMCID: PMC9561420 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.1028209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Asthma is a chronic and heterogeneous respiratory disease with many risk factors that typically originate during early childhood. A complex interplay between environmental factors and genetic predisposition is considered to shape the lung and gut microbiome in early life. The growing literature has identified that changes in the relative abundance of microbes (microbial dysbiosis) and reduced microbial diversity, as triggers of the airway-gut axis crosstalk dysregulation, are associated with asthma development. There are several mechanisms underlying microbial dysbiosis to childhood asthma development pathways. For example, a bacterial infection in the airway of infants can lead to the activation and/or dysregulation of inflammatory pathways that contribute to bronchoconstriction and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. In addition, gut microbial dysbiosis in infancy can affect immune development and differentiation, resulting in a suboptimal balance between innate and adaptive immunity. This evolving dysregulation of secretion of pro-inflammatory mediators has been associated with persistent airway inflammation and subsequent asthma development. In this review, we examine current evidence around associations between the airway and gut microbial dysbiosis with childhood asthma development. More specifically, this review focuses on discussing the integrated roles of environmental exposures, host metabolic and immune responses, airway and gut microbial dysbiosis in driving childhood asthma development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Conglin Liu
- Immunology & Inflammation Research Therapeutic Area, Sanofi US, Cambridge, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Conglin Liu, ; Zhaozhong Zhu,
| | | | - Sejal Saglani
- National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
- Centre for Paediatrics and Child Health, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michael Bowman
- Immunology & Inflammation Research Therapeutic Area, Sanofi US, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Lih-Ling Lin
- Immunology & Inflammation Research Therapeutic Area, Sanofi US, Cambridge, MA, United States
| | - Carlos A. Camargo
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Kohei Hasegawa
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Zhaozhong Zhu
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- *Correspondence: Conglin Liu, ; Zhaozhong Zhu,
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Guo YG, Zhang Y, Liu WL. The causal relationship between allergic diseases and heart failure: Evidence from Mendelian randomization study. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271985. [PMID: 35905078 PMCID: PMC9337678 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Emerging evidence shows allergic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis and asthma, are risk factors of heart failure. However, the causal relationship between allergic diseases and heart failure is not clear.
Methods
We performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis between allergic diseases and heart failure using summary statistics of genome-wide association studies from large GWAS consortia, with total sample size of 1.2 million. Independent instrumental variables for asthma and atopic dermatitis (P<1×10−5) were used as the exposure. We applied five models for the Mendelian randomization analysis. Finally, we performed the sensitivity analyses to assess the robustness of the results.
Results
We have identified 55 independent single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for asthma 54 independent SNPs for atopic dermatitis as our instrumental variables. The inverse variance-weighted (IVW) analysis showed asthma was significantly associated with increased risk of heart failure (ORIVW = 1.04, 95% CI, 1.01–1.07, P = 0.03). The Mendelian randomization analysis using the other four models also showed consistent results with the IVW analysis. Similarly, atopic dermatitis was also significantly associated with an increased risk of heart failure (ORIVW = 1.03, 95% CI, 1.01–1.06, P = 0.01), consistent with the other four models. The sensitivity analysis showed no evidence of horizontal pleiotropy or results were driven by single SNPs.
Conclusion
Our study identified asthma and atopic dermatitis as a causal risk factor for heart failure and suggest inflammatory pathogenesis as a key factor contributing to the underlying mechanism. These findings emphasize the importance of asthma and allergy control in the prevention and management of heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan-Ge Guo
- Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital, Heart Center of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
| | - Yan Zhang
- Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital, Heart Center of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
- * E-mail:
| | - Wei-Li Liu
- Fuwai Central China Cardiovascular Hospital, Heart Center of Henan Provincial People’s Hospital, Central China Fuwai Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
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Agusti A, Barnes N, Cruz AA, Gibson PG, Heaney LG, Inoue H, Leather D, Martinez FJ, McDonald VM, Oppenheimer J, Papi A, Pavord ID, Thomas M, Walker S, Yates L. Moving towards a Treatable Traits model of care for the management of obstructive airways diseases. Respir Med 2021; 187:106572. [PMID: 34478992 DOI: 10.1016/j.rmed.2021.106572] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2021] [Revised: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two prevalent chronic airways diseases. Both are complex and heterogeneous. Traditionally, clinical guidelines have advocated a stepwise approach to pharmacotherapy of asthma and COPD, but there is increasing realization that both require a more personalized and precise management approach. To this end, a management strategy based on the so-called Treatable Traits has been proposed. Emerging evidence suggests that this model improves relevant outcomes in patients with chronic airway diseases but further research is needed to guide implementation. This review discusses the challenges, opportunities, and hurdles that its implementation will have to face.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alvar Agusti
- Cátedra Salud Respiratoria University of Barcelona, Respiratory Institute Hospital Clinic Barcelona, IDIBAPS Barcelona, and CIBERES, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Neil Barnes
- Respiratory Medical Franchise, GSK, Brentford, UK; The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
| | - Alvaro A Cruz
- Fundação ProAR and Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil
| | - Peter G Gibson
- Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs and Hunter Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Liam G Heaney
- Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine, School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK
| | - Hiromasa Inoue
- Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
| | - David Leather
- Respiratory Medical Franchise, GSK, Brentford, UK; The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
| | - Fernando J Martinez
- Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division, New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Vanessa M McDonald
- Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs and Hunter Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Health and Medicine, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales, Australia
| | - John Oppenheimer
- Department of Internal Medicine, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Alberto Papi
- Respiratory Medicine, Department of Translational Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Ian D Pavord
- Respiratory Medicine Unit and NIHR Oxford Respiratory BRC, Nuffield Dept of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Mike Thomas
- Primary Care Research Centre, School of Primary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Samantha Walker
- Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation Partnership, London, UK
| | - Louisa Yates
- Respiratory Medical Franchise, GSK, Brentford, UK; The William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK
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Li Y, Chen W, Tian S, Xia S, Yang B. Evaluating the Causal Association Between Educational Attainment and Asthma Using a Mendelian Randomization Design. Front Genet 2021; 12:716364. [PMID: 34434223 PMCID: PMC8381375 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.716364] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 07/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease. In the past 10 years, genome-wide association study (GWAS) has been widely used to identify the common asthma genetic variants. Importantly, these publicly available asthma GWAS datasets provide important data support to investigate the causal association of kinds of risk factors with asthma by a Mendelian randomization (MR) design. It is known that socioeconomic status is associated with asthma. However, it remains unclear about the causal association between socioeconomic status and asthma. Here, we selected 162 independent educational attainment genetic variants as the potential instruments to evaluate the causal association between educational attainment and asthma using large-scale GWAS datasets of educational attainment (n = 405,072) and asthma (n = 30,810). We conducted a pleiotropy analysis using the MR-Egger intercept test and the MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) test. We performed an MR analysis using inverse-variance weighted, weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO. The main analysis method inverse-variance weighted indicated that each 1 standard deviation increase in educational attainment (3.6 years) could reduce 35% asthma risk [odds ratio (OR) = 0.65, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51–0.85, P = 0.001]. Importantly, evidence from other MR methods further supported this finding, including weighted median (OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.38–0.80, P = 0.001), MR-Egger (OR = 0.48, 95% CI 0.16–1.46, P = 0.198), and MR-PRESSO (OR = 0.65, 95% CI 0.51–0.85, P = 0.0015). Meanwhile, we provide evidence to support that educational attainment protects against asthma risk dependently on cognitive performance using multivariable MR analysis. In summary, we highlight the protective role of educational attainment against asthma. Our findings may have public health applications and deserve further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxia Li
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Central Hospital, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
| | - Wenhao Chen
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Central Hospital, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
| | - Shiyao Tian
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Central Hospital, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
| | - Shuyue Xia
- Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Central Hospital, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
| | - Biao Yang
- Department of Pathogen Biology, Shenyang Medical College, Shenyang, China
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