Title:The Causal Effects of Cholelithiasis on Acute Pancreatitis and Pancreatic
Cancer: A Large Sample Size Mendelian Randomization Analysis
Volume: 19
Issue: 1
Author(s): Moshi Rao, Xiaoshun Ai and Zijian Huang*
Affiliation:
- General Surgery Department, Zhebei Mingzhou Hospital, 313000, Huzhou, Zhejiang, China
Keywords:
Cholelithiasis, acute pancreatitis, pancreatic cancer, mendelian randomization, large sample size, IVW method.
Abstract:
Background: The aim of two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) with a large
sample size was to explore the causal cholelithiasis impact on acute pancreatitis and pancreatic
cancer.
Methods: We performed the two-sample MR analysis with two models. Publicly available summary-
level information for cholelithiasis was acquired from the Genome-Wide Summary Association
Studies (GWAS) of FinnGen Biobank. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was the
main method to obtain the MR estimates. Other methods were also used as supplementary methods,
including MR-Egger, maximum likelihood, MR-Robust Adjusted Profile Score (MR-RAPS),
weighted median, penalised weighted median method, and Mendelian randomization pleiotropy
residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO) method.
Results: After the selection of genetic instrumental variables (IVs), 11 single nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs) (Model 1) and 22 SNPs (Model 2) were used to explore the effect of cholelithiasis
on acute pancreatitis, and 10 SNPs (Model 1) and 24 SNPs (Model 2) on pancreatic cancer. The
findings obtained by the fixed-effect IVW method with both Model 1 and Model 2 showed that
genetically predicted cholelithiasis was significantly related to the elevated acute pancreatitis risk
(Model 1: OR: 1.001, 95% CI: 1.000-1.002, p <0.001; Model 2: OR: 1.001, 95% CI: 1.000-1.002,
p <0.001). Moreover, cholelithiasis would also raise the pancreatic cancer risk (Model 1: OR:
1.676, 95% CI: 1.228-2.288, p = 0.001; Model 2: OR: 1.432, 95% CI: 1.116-1.839, p = 0.005).
Conclusion: Genetically predicted cholelithiasis was significantly related to the elevated risk of
acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. More attention should be paid to patients with cholelithiasis
for the primary prevention of pancreatic-related diseases.
