Causal relationship of gastroesophageal reflux disease with chronic periodontitis: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Abstract Background: Some observational studies have demonstrated an association between gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD) and chronic periodontitis. We used a Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to evaluate the bidirectional association between GERD and chronic periodontitis. Materials and Methods: We collected data from two genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of individuals of European ancestry. During the meta-analysis, the relationship between the two variables was estimated primarily using the inverse weighted method (IVW). A sensitivity analysis was performed using Cochran's Q test, leave-one-out test and MR pleiotropy residual sum and outlier analysis (MR- PRESSO). Results: GERD was causally related tochronic periodontitis risk (OR = 1.270, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.040-1.550, P=0.019). However, no causal effect of chronic periodontitis on GERD was found (OR=1.006, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.991-1.022, P=0.435). Conclusion: According to this MR study, the outcomes supported GERD on therisk of chronic periodontitis, but according to the analysis, there is no evidence for chronic periodontitis on GERD risk.