AUTHOR=He Gang , Cao Yu , Wang Houzhao , Lv Xiaoying 

TITLE=Causal effects of gut microbiome on hypertension: a Mendelian randomization study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1276050

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1276050

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Previous observational studies have shown that there is an important relationship between gut microbiota and hypertension, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization analysis to examine whether the gut microbiota is causally related to hypertension in order to find a basis for potential diagnostic or intervention approaches for hypertension.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>We obtained significant single nucleotide polymorphisms related to gut microbiota and hypertension from publicly available genome-wide association studies for a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. A total of 18,340 individual genome-wide genotype data were included from 24 population-based cohorts. The inverse-variance weighted meta-analysis is the main analytical method for evaluating causal relationships, and the Mendelian randomization research results have been validated through a series of sensitivity analyses.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>The inverse-variance weighted analysis results indicated that phylum <italic>Verrucomicrobia</italic> (OR:0.831, 95%CI: 0.710–0.972; <italic>p</italic> = 0.021), family <italic>BacteroidalesS24.7group</italic> (OR:0.672, 95%CI: 0.496–0.911; <italic>p</italic> = 0.01), family <italic>Bifidobacteriaceae</italic> (OR:0.709, 95%CI:0.569–0.884, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002), genus <italic>Adlercreutzia</italic> (OR: 0.991, 95%CI: 0.982–0.999, <italic>p</italic> = 0.035), genus <italic>Phascolarctacterium</italic> (OR:0.819, 95%CI:0.685–0.981; <italic>p</italic> = 0.03), genus <italic>LachnospiraceaeNK4A136group</italic> (OR:0.990, 95%CI:0.981–0.999; <italic>p</italic> = 0.025), and genus <italic>Ruminococcus2</italic> (OR:0.988, 95%CI: 0.979–0.997; <italic>p</italic> = 0.008) had protective causal effects on hypertension. The Family <italic>Alcaliginaceae</italic> (OR:1.011, 95%CI:1.000–1.021, <italic>p</italic> = 0.04), Genus <italic>Anaerostipes</italic> (OR:1.375, 95%CI:1.096–1.653; <italic>p</italic> = 0.025), Genus <italic>Collinsella</italic> (OR:1.899, 95%CI:1.361–2.348; <italic>p</italic> = 0.02), and Genus <italic>Lachnospiraceae_UCG_010</italic> (OR:1.536, 95%CI:1.072–2.202; <italic>p</italic> = 0.019) were associated with a higher risk of HTN. The reverse Mendelian randomization analysis results showed no reverse causal relationship between HTN and these bacterial taxa.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our Mendelian randomization analysis results indicate a potential causal relationship between these bacterial taxa and hypertension, providing a new perspective for the treatment and prevention of hypertension.</p></sec>