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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Bone Research
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2024.1364375
This article is part of the Research Topic Metabolic disorders as risk factors for osteoarthritis and targeted therapies for this pathology View all 4 articles

Association between serum iron status and the risk of five bone and joint-related diseases: a Mendelian randomization analysis

Provisionally accepted
Xiaolei Wang Xiaolei Wang 1Linjing Qiu Linjing Qiu 1,2Zepei Yang Zepei Yang 1*Changjiang Wu Changjiang Wu 1,2*Wenying Xie Wenying Xie 1,2*Jing Zhang Jing Zhang 1,2*Wenhui Li Wenhui Li 1,2*Wangyang Li Wangyang Li 1,2*Yanbin Gao Yanbin Gao 3Taojing Zhang Taojing Zhang 1*
  • 1 Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
  • 2 Graduate School of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
  • 3 Beijing Key Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Collateral Disease Theory Research, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

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

    Background: According to reports, iron status has been associated with the risk of bone and jointrelated diseases. However, the exact role of iron status in the development of these conditions remains uncertain.We obtained genetic data on iron status, specifically serum iron, ferritin, transferrin saturation (TSAT), and transferrin, as well as data on five common bone and joint-related diseases (osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis [RA], ankylosing spondylitis [AS], and gout) from independent genome-wide association studies involving individuals of European ancestry. Our primary approach for causal estimation utilized the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method. To ensure the reliability of our findings, we applied complementary sensitivity analysis and conducted reverse causal analysis.Result: Using the IVW method, we revealed a positive causal relationship between ferritin levels and the risk of osteoarthritis (OR [95% CI], 1.0114 [1.0021-1.0207]). Besides, we identified a protective causal relationship between serum iron levels and TSAT levels in the risk of RA (OR [95% CI] values of serum iron and TSAT were 0.9987 [0.9973-0.9999] and 0.9977 [0.9966-0.9987], respectively). Furthermore, we found a positive causal relationship between serum iron levels and the risk of AS (OR [95% CI], 1.0015 [1.0005-1.0026]). Regarding gout, both serum iron and TSAT showed a positive causal relationship (OR [95% CI] values of 1.

    Keywords: Bone and joint-related diseases, Mendelian randomization, iron status, genome wide association studies, Genetics

    Received: 02 Jan 2024; Accepted: 27 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Qiu, Yang, Wu, Xie, Zhang, Li, Li, Gao and Zhang. 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:
    Zepei Yang, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Changjiang Wu, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Wenying Xie, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Jing Zhang, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Wenhui Li, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Wangyang Li, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
    Taojing Zhang, Department of Endocrinology, Dongfang Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China

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