Association between levels of sex hormones and risk of multiple sclerosis: a mendelian randomization study

Background

This research aimed to examine the causal connections between multiple sclerosis (MS) and a range of sex hormone-related traits, such as bioavailable testosterone (BT), sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), testosterone, and estradiol (E2).

Methods

A bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis using summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) was conducted to investigate the relationship between sex hormone-related traits and MS. Moreover, the Inverse-variance weighted (IVW) method was employed as the primary analysis approach.

Results

The MR analysis, using the IVW method, found a significant correlation between genetically determined SHBG levels and MS (OR = 1.634, 95% CI: 1.029–2.599, p = 0.038). Similarly, the reverse MR analysis suggested a causal link between MS and SHBG (OR = 1.005, 95% CI: 1.001–1.009, P = 0.003). However, no association was observed between MS risk and E2, testosterone, or BT levels.

Conclusion

Our MR analysis demonstrated that genetically predicted higher SHBG may be positively correlated with the risk of MS. Moreover, the role of SHBG in MS could be further investigated.