Observational studies have revealed a higher probability of hypothyroidism in patients with dermatomyositis (DM) or polymyositis (PM), but there is no consensus on whether hypothyroidism causally influences DM or PM. In the present study, we assessed the causal association between hypothyroidism and the risk of dermatomyositis or polymyositis using two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR).
The genome-wide association data of hypothyroidism and dermatomyositis/polymyositis were obtained from the IEU Open GWAS project. Then, TSMR was used to determine whether hypothyroidism is causally associated with DM or PM. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) significantly associated with hypothyroidism were identified and used as instrumental variables (IVs), and the causal relationship between hypothyroidism and DM/PM was examined using TSMR. MR pleiotropy and Cochran’s Q test were used to confirm the heterogeneity and pleiotropy of identified IVs, then four different models, including the inverse variance weighted model (IVW), MR-Egger, weighted median and weighted model were applied in this MR analysis.
Sixty-eight SNPs for DM and 68 SNPs for PM were selected as the IVs (P<5×10−8; linkage disequilibrium R2 <0.001) to assess the causal association between hypothyroidism and DM/PM selected from GWASs on hypothyroidism. The results revealed a positive causal effect of hypothyroidism on both DM and PM (DM: OR 2.563, 95% CI [1.348, 4.874], P = 0.00156; PM: OR1.709, 95% CI [1.157, 2.525], P =0.007). Moreover, there was no heterogeneity or pleiotropy in the results.
In conclusion, the MR analysis results provided strong evidence to indicate that hypothyroidism might be causally associated with DM and PM. These findings may have important implications for the pathogenesis and possible future therapies of DM/PM.