AUTHOR=Tian Yu , Yao Guanqun , Skudder-Hill Loren , Xu Guangyang , Qian Yuxuan , Tang Feng , Wang Qian , Bao Qianhui , Li Lei 

TITLE=Gut microbiota’s causative relationship with peripheral artery disease: a Mendelian randomization study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1340262

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1340262

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Introduction</title><p>The relationship between gut microbiota and peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains understudied. While traditional risk factors like smoking and hyperlipidemia are well-understood, our study aims to determine the potential causative association of gut microbiota with PAD using Mendelian Randomization.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Data from the International MiBioGen Consortium and the FinnGen research project were used to study 211 bacterial taxa. Instrumental variables, comprising 2079 SNPs, were selected based on significance levels and linkage disequilibrium. Analyses were conducted utilizing the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method and other statistical MR techniques to mitigate biases, processed in R (v4.3.1) with the TwosampleMR package.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Three bacterial taxa, namely genus <italic>Coprococcus2</italic>, <italic>RuminococcaceaeUCG004</italic>, and <italic>RuminococcaceaeUCG010</italic>, emerged as protective factors against PAD. In contrast, family. FamilyXI and the genus <italic>Lachnoclostridium</italic> and <italic>LachnospiraceaeUCG001</italic> were identified as risk factors.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our findings hint at a causative association between certain gut microbiota and PAD, introducing new avenues for understanding PAD’s etiology and developing effective treatments. The observed associations now warrant further validation in varied populations and detailed exploration at finer taxonomic levels.</p></sec>