Clinical observations indicate a correlation between the gut microbiota and overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms. Nevertheless, the causal relationship and mechanisms between gut microbiota and OAB symptoms remain elusive.
Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses were performed to assess the association between gut microbiota and OAB symptoms, including urinary incontinence (UI). Data were obtained from the MiBioGen International Consortium genome-wide association studies (GWAS) dataset and the IEU GWAS database. The inverse variance weighted method was used as the primary approach in the MR analysis, with the weighted median, MR-Egger, and weighted mode methods as supplementary approaches. Sensitivity analyses were employed to assess potential violations of the MR assumptions.
Our analysis identified seven gut bacterial taxa with a causal relationship to OAB and nine gut bacterial taxa associated with UI. Genera
This study revealed a causal relationship between gut microbiota and OAB symptoms, providing new insights and a theoretical foundation to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets for patients with OAB symptoms.