Causal relationship between Gut Microbiota and Obstructive sleep apnea

Abstract

Objective: Although observational studies have identified relations between gut microbiota and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), their causal links remain elusive. Hence, we aimed to investigate this causal relation using the Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.

Methods: Summary-level gut microbiota data were acquired using the maximum available genome-wide association study (GWAS) from the MiBioGen consortium while obtaining summary-level OSA data using publicly available GWAS from the FinnGen Consortium. A two-sample MR analysis was used for assessing gut microbiota and OSA causal effect, using the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) approach as the primary analysis method. The results were further examined for pleiotropy and heterogeneity. Moreover, the reverse MR analysis did not find a causal relationship.

Results: Four gut microbiota were found to have nominally significant association to OSA according to the IVW method. Among them, the family Peptostreptococcaceae (OR = 1.171, 95% CI: 1.027-1.334) and genus Coprococcus3 (OR = 1.163, 95% CI: 1.007-1.343), these two florae that may increase the risk of OSA. Family Acidaminococcaceae (OR = 0.843, 95% CI: 0.729-0.975) and genus Blautia (OR = 0.830, 95% CI: 0.708-0.972) may have an ameliorative effect on OSA. No evidence of pleiotropy or heterogeneity was found.

Conclusions: MR analysis indicated that a causal relation is existed between specific gut microbiota and OSA at the genetic prediction level, offering innovative perspectives into the mechanisms underlying gut microbiota-mediated OSA development.

Keywords: Causal association; Genome-wide association study; Gut microbiota; Mendelian Randomization; Obstructive sleep apnea.