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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Bone Research
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1364368

Does Autoimmune Diseases Increase the Risk of Frailty? A Mendelian Randomization Study

Provisionally accepted
Jinlei Zhou Jinlei Zhou 1Yuan Zhang Yuan Zhang 2Ting Ni Ting Ni 3Yanlei Li Yanlei Li 1Haiyu Shao Haiyu Shao 1Fei Wang Fei Wang 4Sen Xu Sen Xu 1Yazeng Huang Yazeng Huang 1Jun Zhang Jun Zhang 5Zhao Tingxiao Zhao Tingxiao 1*
  • 1 Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 2 Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 3 The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
  • 4 Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 5 Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital Bijie Hospital, Bijie, Guizhou Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The causality of autoimmune diseases with frailty has not been firmly established. We conducted this Mendelian randomization (MR) study to unveil the causal associations between autoimmune diseases with frailty.Methods: A MR analyses were performed to explore the relationships between autoimmune disease and frailty, using summary genome-wide association statistics.Results: Through a comprehensive and meticulous screening process, we incorporated 46, 7, 12, 20, 5, and 53 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs) for hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), type 1 diabetes (T1D), multiple sclerosis (MS), and overall autoimmune disease, respectively. Our analysis revealed that hypothyroidism (OR = 1.023, 95% CI: 1.008-1.038, p = 0.0015), hyperthyroidism (OR = 1.024, 95% CI: 1.004-1.045, p = 0.0163), RA (OR = 1.031, 95% CI: 1.011-1.052, p = 0.0017), T1D (OR = 1.011, 95% CI: 1.004-1.017, p = 0.0012), and overall autoimmune disease (OR = 1.044, 95% CI: 1.028-1.061, p = 5.32*10^-8) exhibited a positive causal effect on frailty. Conversely, there may be a negative causal association between MS (OR = 0.984, 95% CI: 0.977-0.992, p = 4.87*10^-5) and frailty. Cochran's Q test indicated heterogeneity among IVs derived from hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, T1D, and overall autoimmune diseases. The MR-Egger regression analyzes revealed an absence of horizontal pleiotropy in any of the conducted analyses.This study elucidates that hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, RA, T1D, and overall autoimmune disease were linked to an elevated risk of frailty. Conversely, MS appears to be associated with a potential decrease in the risk of frailty.

    Keywords: autoimmune disease, Frailty, Mendelian randomization, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis

    Received: 02 Jan 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhou, Zhang, Ni, Li, Shao, Wang, Xu, Huang, Zhang and Tingxiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Zhao Tingxiao, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, 310014, Zhejiang Province, China

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