Causal relationship between gut microbiota and psoriasis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence from observational and experimental studies suggests a potential association between the gut microbiota (GM) and psoriasis, yet it remains obscure whether this connection is causal in nature. Methods By performing a two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis of genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics from the MiBioGen and FinnGen consortium, the causal association between GM and psoriasis was investigated, using methods of inverse variance weighted (IVW), MR Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode. Results The genus Eubacterium fissicatena group (odds ratio [OR]: 1.22, 95% confidential interval [CI], 1.09–1.36, P < 0.001) and genus Lactococcus (OR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.00-1.25, P = 0.046) were identified as risk factors for psoriasis, while the genus Butyricicoccus (OR: 0.80, 95% CI: 0.64-1.00, P = 0.049), genus Faecalibacterium (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.71–0.99, P = 0.035), genus Prevotella9 (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.78–0.99, P = 0.040) exhibited protective effects against psoriasis. The sensitivity analysis did not provide any indications of pleiotropy or heterogeneity. Conclusions Our two-sample MR analysis provides novel evidence supporting the causality between GM and psoriasis. Comprehensive and multi-omics methods are warranted to unravel the contribution of GM to psoriasis pathogenesis, as well as its potential therapeutic implications.