Causal relationship between five autoimmune diseases and NAFLD:a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization study
CUI Juan
CHEN Yisheng
WEN Huihong
ZENG Linlin
YAN Haizhen
Abstract：Objective To investigate the causal relationships between five autoimmune diseases such as inflamma-tory bowel disease(IBD),psoriasis(PsO),rheumatoid arthritis(RA),multiple sclerosis(MS),and systemic lupus er-ythematosus(SLE)and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)using a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomiza-tion(MR)analysis,providing genetic evidence for the association between immune-related disorders and NAFLD risk.Methods A two-sample bidirectional MR analysis was performed to assess causal relationships between the five autoim-mune diseases and NAFLD using five regression models:MR Egger regression,weighted median,random-effects inverse-variance weighted(IVW)method,weighted mode,and simple mode.Results IVW analysis revealed a significant causal association between IBD and NAFLD(β=0.046 6,SE=0.015 7,P=0.003),with a positive effect size(OR=1.047 7,95%CI:1.016 0-1.080 5).The simple mode yielded consistent and significant results(β=0.126 6,SE=0.054 1,P=0.021 2),further supporting the robustness of the causal relationship.No significant association was ob-served between RA and NAFLD using IVW(β=0.016 9,SE=0.018 7,P=0.365 8).Analyses for other autoimmune dis-eases were excluded due to insufficient instrumental variable SNPs(<10),which posed risks of statistical under-powering or bias.Conclusion The two-sample bidirectional MR analysis indicates a causal relationship between IBD and NAFLD,suggesting that IBD may increase the risk of NAFLD development.
Keywords：Mendelian randomization:two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomizationnon-alcoholic fatty liver diseaseimmune diseaseinflammatory bowel diseasecomorbidity
Publication Date：2025-03-25
Online Publishing Date：2025-08-15(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 40-45 )