Mendelian randomization reveals association of gut microbiota with Henoch–Schönlein purpura and immune thrombocytopenia

Abstract

Gut microbiota have been linked to immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) and Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) in recent studies, but a cause-and-effect relationship is unclear. We used Mendelian randomization (MR) to assess causal relationships between gut microbiota and HSP/ITP using summary statistics from the GWAS dataset of the international MiBioGen and FinnGen consortium. The IVW method was used as the main evaluation indicator. MR analysis of 196 intestinal flora and HSP/ITP/sTP phenotypes showed that 12 flora were potentially causally associated with ITP, 6 with HSP, and 9 with sTP. The genes predicted that genus Coprococcus3 (p = 0.0264, OR = 2.05, 95% CI 1.09–3.88)and genus Gordonibacter (p = 0.0073, OR = 1.38; 95% CI 1.09–1.75) were linked to a higher likelihood of developing ITP. Additionally, family Actinomycetaceae (p = 0.02, OR = 0.51, 95% CI 0.28–0.90) and order Actinomycetales (p = 0.0199, OR = 0.50, 95% CI 0.28–0.90) linked to reduced HSP risk. Genus Ruminococcaceae UCG013 (p = 0.0426, OR = 0.44, 95% CI 0.20–0.97) negatively correlated with sTP risk. Our MR analyses offer evidence of a possible cause-and-effect connection between certain gut microbiota species and the likelihood of HSP/ITP.