Association of education attainment and risk of connective tissue diseases

Abstract

ObjectiveWe employed two‐sample Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the genetic causal relationship between educational attainment (EA) and risk of five common connective tissue diseases (CTDs).MethodsEducational attainment (self‐reported at age ≥30 years) was obtained from a meta‐analysis of years of schooling in 766 345 participants of European ancestry from genome‐wide association studies (GWAS). A total of 1265 signals associated with EA were identified. Genetic data for five CTDs [rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), systemic sclerosis (SSc), polymyositis (PM), and dermatomyositis (DM)] were obtained from the FinnGen consortium. Two‐sample MR analyses were performed separately for EA and the five CTDs.ResultsWe found a negative causal relationship between EA and RA (ORIVW = 0.627, 95% CI = 0.537–0.732, p < .001), and SLE (ORIVW = 0.341, 95% CI = 0.123–0.944, p = .038). There were no genetic causal association between EA and SSc (ORIVW = 0.647, 95% CI = 0.351–1.195, p = .164), PM (ORIVW = 0.938, 95% CI = 0.320–2.746, p = .907), or DM (ORIVW = 0.754, 95% CI = 0.351–1.619, p = .468). None of the analyses revealed any horizontal pleiotropy or heterogeneity.ConclusionOur findings indicated a potential causal association between EA and RA, SLE, emphasizing the need for further investigation and potential integration of EA into clinical practice to enhance treatment strategies.