AUTHOR=Xing Tongjing , Wang Xuequan , He Shanshan 

TITLE=A Mendelian randomization study investigating causal links between gut microbiota or metabolites and chronic hepatitis B

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1398254

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2024.1398254

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1"><title>Objective</title><p>This study aimed to explore the potential causal relationship between the gut microbiota and/or its metabolites and the progression of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).</p></sec><sec id="sec2"><title>Method</title><p>The gut microbiota was used as the exposure factor. The training set exposure data were obtained from the China Nucleotide Sequence Archive (CNSA). Genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from Asia were used as the outcome variables. Outcome data for both the training and validation sets were sourced from the GWAS Catalog database. A dual-sample Mendelian randomization approach was used to analyze the causal relationships, with the inverse variance-weighted method serving as the main analytical strategy. Sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of Mendelian randomization analysis results.</p></sec><sec id="sec3"><title>Result</title><p>In the training set database, analysis using the inverse variance-weighted method revealed a positive correlation between <italic>Fusobacterium varium</italic> and chronic hepatitis B [OR = 1.122, 95% CI (1.016, 1.240), <italic>p</italic> = 0.022]. Conversely, <italic>Veillonella parvula</italic> exhibited a negative correlation with chronic hepatitis B [OR = 0.917, 95% CI (0.852, 0.987), <italic>p</italic> = 0.021]. Sensitivity analysis revealed no evidence of pleiotropy and heterogeneity. No gut microbiota metabolites with a causal effect on chronic hepatitis B were identified. Additionally, no associations between the gut microbiota and the progression of chronic hepatitis B were found in the validation data from the European cohort.</p></sec><sec id="sec4"><title>Conclusion</title><p>This study suggests that <italic>F. varium</italic> may facilitate the progression of chronic hepatitis B, whereas <italic>V. parvula</italic> may impede it. No causal relationships between gut microbiota metabolites and chronic hepatitis B were established.</p></sec>