Correlations between gut microbiota and lichen planus: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Ming Yan; Yu-Long Ouyang; Li-Yuan Xiao; Man Ao; Martin Gosau; Reinhard E Friedrich; Ralf Smeets; Ling-Ling Fu; Hong-Chao Feng; Simon Burg

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1235982

Correlations between gut microbiota and lichen planus: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Front Immunol. 2023 Sep 12:14:1235982. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1235982. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ming Yan^{1

2}, Yu-Long Ouyang¹, Li-Yuan Xiao¹, Man Ao¹, Martin Gosau², Reinhard E Friedrich², Ralf Smeets^{2

3}, Ling-Ling Fu^{1

2}, Hong-Chao Feng¹, Simon Burg²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Guiyang Hospital of Stomatology, Guiyang, China.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Division of Regenerative Orofacial Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.

Abstract

Purpose: Several existing studies have revealed that the occurrence of lichen planus (LP) is relevant to the gut microbiota, and the causal relationship between gut microbiota and LP was analyzed using the Mendelian randomization (MR) method.

Methods: Through the two-sample MR method, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) relevant to gut microbiota were selected as instrument variables (IVs) to evaluate the causal association between gut microbiota and the risk of LP.

Results: According to the selection criteria of inverse-variance weighted (IVW), six bacterial genera were found to be significantly linked to the initiation of LP; The IVW results suggested that Oxalobacteraceae, Victivallaceae, and Actinobacteria could restrain the initiation of LP, showing protective effects against LP. Desulfovibrio, Veillonella, and Ruminococcus gauvreauii groups were demonstrated to have casual correlations with the onset of LP.

Conclusion: The relationship between gut microbiota and LP was not a single positive or inverse relationship. Investigation of the causal relationship of these gut microbiota with LP could further provide evidence for the intestine-skin axis theory. However, the specific mechanism of microorganisms affecting the skin remains to be clarified. In this paper, the protective effects and mechanisms of Oxalobacteraceae, Victivallaceae, and Actinobacteria on LP require further exploration.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization study; correlations; gut microbiota; intestine-skin axis; lichen planus.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Foundation of Guiyang Science and Technology Bureau (No. [2018]1-56). MY was supported by the Merit Scholarship of Hamburg University for International Students (No.7238065).