Dissecting causal associations of type 2 diabetes with 111 types of ocular conditions: a Mendelian randomization study

Rumeng Chen; Shuling Xu; Yining Ding; Leyang Li; Chunxia Huang; Meihua Bao; Sen Li; Qiuhong Wang

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1307468

Dissecting causal associations of type 2 diabetes with 111 types of ocular conditions: a Mendelian randomization study

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Nov 22:14:1307468. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1307468. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Rumeng Chen^#¹, Shuling Xu^#¹, Yining Ding^#¹, Leyang Li², Chunxia Huang³, Meihua Bao^{4

5}, Sen Li¹, Qiuhong Wang²

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
² Department of Endocrinology, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ School of Stomatology, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China.
⁴ The Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of the TCM Agricultural Biogenomics, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China.
⁵ Hunan Key Laboratory of the Research and Development of Novel Pharmaceutical Preparations, School of Pharmaceutical Science, Changsha Medical University, Changsha, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Despite the well-established findings of a higher incidence of retina-related eye diseases in patients with diabetes, there is less investigation into the causal relationship between diabetes and non-retinal eye conditions, such as age-related cataracts and glaucoma.

Methods: We performed Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to examine the causal relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and 111 ocular diseases. We employed a set of 184 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that reached genome-wide significance as instrumental variables (IVs). The primary analysis utilized the inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method, with MR-Egger and weighted median (WM) methods serving as supplementary analyses.

Results: The results revealed suggestive positive causal relationships between T2DM and various ocular conditions, including "Senile cataract" (OR= 1.07; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.11; P=7.77×10^-4), "Glaucoma" (OR= 1.08; 95% CI: 1.02, 1.13; P=4.81×10^-3), and "Disorders of optic nerve and visual pathways" (OR= 1.10; 95% CI: 0.99, 1.23; P=7.01×10^-2).

Conclusion: Our evidence supports a causal relationship between T2DM and specific ocular disorders. This provides a basis for further research on the importance of T2DM management and prevention strategies in maintaining ocular health.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization; causal association; diabetes complications; ocular diseases; type 2 diabetes.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / epidemiology
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2* / genetics
Face
Humans
Mendelian Randomization Analysis
Retina
Retinal Diseases*

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by Young Elite Scientists Sponsorship Program by CAST (Grant No. 2019QNRC001), Special Training Program for Outstanding Young Scientific and Technological Talents (Innovation) of Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (Grant No.ZZ14-YQ-010), the Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (Grant No.CI2021A01612) and the BUCM Precision Cultivation Program (Grant No. JZPY-202205).