Causal relationship of gut microbiota with diabetic nephropathy: a Mendelian randomization analysis

Wei Yan; Ying Ge; Lina Wang; Yuntao Wang; Daikun He

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1281361

Causal relationship of gut microbiota with diabetic nephropathy: a Mendelian randomization analysis

Front Microbiol. 2024 Jan 3:14:1281361. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2023.1281361. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wei Yan¹, Ying Ge¹, Lina Wang¹, Yuntao Wang¹, Daikun He^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of General Practice, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
² Department of General Practice, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
³ Center of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Background: Patients with DN (diabetic nephropathy) show remarkable variations in their gut microbiota composition. However, to date, no study has shown whether a causal relationship exists between gut microbiota composition and DN.

Methods: Here, we performed a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) investigation for identifying causal associations of gut microbiota with DN. Gut microbiota genetic data were gathered from the recent genome-wide association study pooled data of the MiBioGen consortium, which included 24 cohorts and 18,340 individuals.

Results: IVW(Inverse variance weighting) revealed that Verrucomicrobia [odds ratio (OR) = 1.390; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10-1.75; p = 0.005], Peptostreptococcaceae (OR = 1.284; 95% CI = 1.03-1.59; p = 0.012), Verrucomicrobiaceae (OR = 1.390; 95% CI = 1.10-1.75; p = 0.005), Akkermansia (OR = 1.390; 95% CI = 1.10-1.75; p = 0.005), Butyricimonas (OR = 1.261; 95% CI = 1.02-1.55; p = 0.031), Catenibacterium (OR = 1.278; 95% CI = 1.02-1.59; p = 0.030).

Conclusion: Two-sample MR analysis identified 12 microbial taxa in gut microbiota (one of which is yet to be officially named) that showed significant causal associations with DN; 8 of these taxa significantly increased the risk of DN, while the remaining 4 taxa (including the one without an official name) reduced the risk of DN. The precise mechanisms influencing the interactions of gut microbiota with DN occurrence remain unclear; hence, additional investigations should be conducted to clarify these mechanisms.

Keywords: Mendelian randomization analysis; causal relationship; diabetic nephropathy; gut microbiota; kidney damage.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The study was funded by the Youth Research Foundation of Jinshan Hospital of Fudan University (JYQN-LC-202212).