Mendelian Randomization Reveal Causal Relationship Between Periodontitis and Coronary Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Growing evidence appears to intimate a profound connection between periodontitis and coronary atherosclerosis (CA), yet the existence of a causal relationship remains unclear. Through the implementation of Mendelian randomization analysis, We further evaluated the potential causal link between chronic/acute periodontitis (CP/AP) and CA. Objectives Utilizing genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics, we incorporated periodontitis data derived from European samples (n1 = 198,441; n2 = 195,762) and CA data from 61,194 cases. We conducted a two sample, bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method as the main analytical approach. Supplementary analyses were executed through MR Egger, Weighted median (WM), IVW, Simple mode, and Weighted mode approaches. Results The IVW analysis revealed no significant causal relationship between CA and periodontitis (CA-CP: OR = 2.110, 95% CI = 1.483–3.003, P = 0.527; CA-AP: OR = 0.414, 95% CI = 0.051–3.384, P = 0.644). Similarly, the bidirectional analysis did not identify impact of periodontitis on CA (OR = 1.000, 95% CI = 0.999–1.001, P = 0.953). The supplementary analyses corroborated these findings. Conclusions While studies highlighting a correlation between periodontitis and CA, our comprehensive analysis does not corroborate a causal connection between periodontitis and CA. Further research is needed to elucidate other potential shared mechanisms and causal evidence between periodontitis and CA.