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. 2023 Aug 23;23(1):309.
doi: 10.1186/s12890-023-02589-z.

Vitamin D and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a two-sample mendelian randomization study

Tong Lin  1 , Fen Zhou  1 , Haiyan Mao  1 , Zhenye Xie  1 , Yuhong Jin  2
Affiliations

Vitamin D and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: a two-sample mendelian randomization study

Tong Lin et al. BMC Pulm Med. .

Abstract

Background: A prospective study of multiple small samples found that idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is often accompanied by a deficiency in Vitamin D levels. However, the causal relationship between the two remains to be determined. Therefore, our study aims to investigate the causal effect of serum 1,25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) on the risk of IPF through a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis.

Methods: Through data analysis from two European ancestry-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS), including 401,460 individuals for 25(OH)D levels and 1028 individuals for IPF, we primarily employed inverse-variance weighted (IVW) to assess the causal effect of 25(OH)D levels on IPF risk. MR-Egger regression test was used to determine pleiotropy, and Cochran's Q test was conducted for heterogeneity testing. Leave-one-out analysis was conducted to examine the robustness of the results.

Results: 158 SNPs related to serum 25(OH)D were used as instrumental variables (IVs). The MR analyses revealed no evidence supporting a causal association between the level of circulating 25(OH)D and the risk of IPF. The IVW method [OR 0.891, 95%CI (0.523-1.518), P = 0.670]; There was no significant level of heterogeneity, pleiotropy and bias in IVs. Cochran's Q test for heterogeneity (MR Egger P = 0.081; IVW P = 0.089); MR-Egger regression for pleiotropy (P = 0.774).

Conclusions: This MR Study suggests that genetically predicted circulating vitamin D concentrations in the general population are not causally related to IPF.

Keywords: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; Mendelian randomization; Vitamin D.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic diagram of the Mendelian randomization assumptions
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Scatter plot for the causal effect of 25(OH)D levels on IPF risk. The slope of the straight line indicates the magnitude of the causal association
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Funnel plot for the overall heterogeneity in the effect of 25(OH)D levels on IPF risk
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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