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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1428403
This article is part of the Research Topic Micronutrients and Metabolic Diseases-Volume II View all 4 articles

The Role of Micronutrients and Serum Metabolites in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: Insights from a Mendelian randomization study and mediation analysis

Provisionally accepted
Jiang Nizhou Jiang Nizhou 1Quanxiang Wang Quanxiang Wang 2Jian Jiang Jian Jiang 1*
  • 1 Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology Department of Spine Surgery, Dalian, China
  • 2 Hongqi Hospital of Mudanjiang Medical University, Mudanjiang, China

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

    Background: Intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD) is a complex degenerative skeletal condition, potentially influenced by micronutrients and serum metabolites in its etiology. However, the exact causal relationship between these factors and IVDD remains ambiguous.The research employed a Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization (2SMR) analysis to thoroughly evaluate the causal relationship between 15 micronutrients (consisting of 7 minerals and 8 vitamins) as exposure variables, 1,091 blood metabolites, and 309 metabolite ratios as intermediary factors, and IVDD as the outcome. Additionally, reverse MR analysis and mediation analysis were carried out to validate the reliability of the results and explore the underlying mechanism by which micronutrients influence the risk of IVDD by regulating metabolites.Results: Among the micronutrients examined, vitamin B12 exhibited a noteworthy negative correlation with the incidence of IVDD (OR: 0.752, 95% [CI]: 0.573-0.987, P = 0.040), indicating a potential reduction in IVDD risk with increased vitamin B12 consumption. Of the 1,091 blood metabolites and 309 metabolite ratios analyzed, 52 metabolites displayed significant associations with IVDD, primarily linked to amino acid, fatty acid, nucleotide, and sphingolipid metabolic pathways. Mediation analysis identified 4-acetaminophen sulfate as a potential mediator in the protective effect of vitamin B12 against IVDD.This study has shown that vitamin B12 may reduce the risk of IVDD and has identified 52 serum metabolites that are associated with IVDD. Furthermore, it proposes that 4acetaminophen sulfate could serve as a potential mechanism by which vitamin B12 exerts its inhibitory effects on IVDD.

    Keywords: Intervertebral Disc Degeneration, Mendelian randomization, mediated Mendelian randomization, Micronutrients, Serum metabolites, Vitamin B12

    Received: 06 May 2024; Accepted: 08 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Nizhou, Wang and Jiang. 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: Jian Jiang, Central Hospital of Dalian University of Technology Department of Spine Surgery, Dalian, China

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