Frontiers in Endocrinology (Oct 2024)

Unequal causality between autoimmune thyroiditis and inflammatory bowel disease: a Mendelian randomization study

  • Siyang Bai,
  • Siyang Bai,
  • Yunfeng Yu,
  • Xinyu Yang,
  • Gang Hu,
  • Jingyi Wu,
  • Keke Tong,
  • Yuman Yin,
  • Juan Deng,
  • Cong Chen,
  • Chuanchuan Tan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2024.1387482
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 15

Abstract

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ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the causal relationship between autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR).MethodsSingle nucleotide polymorphisms were obtained from FinnGen. Exposure-outcome causality was assessed using inverse variance weighted, MR-Egger, and weighted median. MR-Egger intercept, Cochran’s Q, and leave-one-out sensitivity analysis were used to evaluate horizontal pleiotropy, heterogeneity, and robustness, respectively.ResultsForward analysis revealed no significant association between AIT and the risk of ulcerative colitis (UC) (odds ratio [OR] 1.008, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.986 to 1.03, p = 0.460) or Crohn’s disease (CD) (OR 0.972, 95% CI 0.935 to 1.010, p = 0.143). Reverse analysis showed that UC (OR 0.961, 95% CI 0.783 to 1.180, p = 0.707) was not associated with AIT risk, while CD (OR 2.371, 95% CI 1.526 to 3.683, p < 0.001) was linked to an increased risk of AIT. Intercept analysis and Cochran’s Q test indicated no horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the robustness of the MR results.ConclusionThis MR analysis suggests that CD, but not UC, is a risk factor for AIT, whereas AIT is not associated with the risk of IBD. Proactive prevention and treatment of CD can help mitigate the risk of AIT.

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