AUTHOR=Zheng XuWen , Chen MaoBing , Zhuang Yi , Xu Jin , Zhao Liang , Qian YongJun , Shen WenMing 

TITLE=Genetic associations between gut microbiota and allergic rhinitis: an LDSC and MR analysis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1395340

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1395340

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Background</title><p>Several studies have suggested a potential link between allergic rhinitis (AR) and gut microbiota. In response, we conducted a meta-analysis of Linkage Disequilibrium Score Regression (LDSC) and Mendelian randomization (MR) to detect their genetic associations.</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Methods</title><p>Summary statistics for 211 gut microbiota taxa were gathered from the MiBioGen study, while data for AR were sourced from the Pan-UKB, the FinnGen, and the Genetic Epidemiology Research on Aging (GERA). The genetic correlation between gut microbiota and AR was assessed using LDSC. The principal estimate of causality was determined using the Inverse-Variance Weighted (IVW) method. To assess the robustness of these findings, sensitivity analyses were conducted employing methods such as the weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR-PRESSO. The summary effect estimates of LDSC, forward MR and reverse MR were combined using meta-analysis for AR from different data resources.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Results</title><p>Our study indicated a significant genetic correlation between genus <italic>Sellimonas</italic> (Rg = −0.64, <italic>p</italic> = 3.64 × 10<sup>−5</sup>, Adjust_<italic>P</italic> = 3.64 × 10<sup>−5</sup>) and AR, and a suggestive genetic correlation between seven bacterial taxa and AR. Moreover, the forward MR analysis identified genus <italic>Gordonibacter</italic>, genus <italic>Coprococcus2</italic>, genus <italic>LachnospiraceaeUCG010</italic>, genus <italic>Methanobrevibacter</italic>, and family <italic>Victivallaceae</italic> as being suggestively associated with an increased risk of AR. The reverse MR analysis indicated that AR was suggestively linked to an increased risk for genus <italic>Coprococcus2</italic> and genus <italic>RuminococcaceaeUCG011</italic>.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>Our findings indicate a causal relationship between specific gut microbiomes and AR. This enhances our understanding of the gut microbiota’s contribution to the pathophysiology of AR and lays the groundwork for innovative approaches and theoretical models for future prevention and treatment strategies in this patient population.</p></sec>