The association between gut microbiota and frozen shoulder: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Abstract

Background Current understanding of the link between gut microbiota (GM) and frozen shoulder (FS) remains limited. This study employs the R software for a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to investigate their causal relationship. Method Our study is based on publicly available genome-wide association studies (GWAS). It utilizes GM data from 18,340 participants as the exposure and FSdata from 451,099 individuals as the outcome. The primary analytical method employed is the inverse-variance weighted (IVW) approach. Complementary analyses include the weighted median, MR-Egger, simple mode, and weighted mode methods. Additionally, heterogeneity is assessed using the Cochran Q test. Pleiotropy is evaluated using the MR-Egger intercept and MR-PRESSO analysis. The robustness of our findings is ensured through leave-one-out analysis. Results The IVW analysis reveals that certain GM, including Gammaproteobacteria (OR = 0.83, p = 0.019), Bifidobacteriales (OR = 0.85, p = 0.018), Alcaligenaceae (OR = 0.88, p = 0.047), Bifidobacteriaceae (OR = 0.85, p = 0.018), Lachnospiraceae UCG-004 (OR = 0.87, p = 0.038), Lactobacillus (OR = 0.91, p = 0.042), and Ruminococcaceae UCG-003 (OR = 0.83, p = 0.009), act as protective factors against FS. Conversely, Alphaproteobacteria (OR = 1.19, p = 0.007), Peptococcaceae (OR = 1.15, p = 0.028), and Porphyromonadaceae (OR = 1.24, p = 0.016) are identified as risk factors for FS. The reliability of these findings is bolstered by a series of rigorous tests.。 Conclusion A potential causal link between FS and specific types of GM has been confirmed in the current study.