Association of Dietary Intake With the Risk of Atopic Diseases: A Mendelian Randomization Study

Introduction: Previous observational studies have shown an association between specific dietary intake and atopic diseases. However, few studies have analyzed the causal effects of dietary factors on risk of atopic diseases. Therefore, we conducted a Mendelian randomization (MR) study to explore these relationships.

Methods: In this study, we obtained summary statistics on dietary intake and atopic diseases including atopic dermatitis, allergic asthma, allergic conjunctivitis, and allergic rhinitis from large genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in European populations. MR analysis was performed using the inverse variance weighted (IVW) method, supplemented with MR Egger, weighted median, maximum likelihood, and weighted model analysis methods.

Results: Our study included 34 diet-related exposure factors. The results indicated that increased intake of filtered coffee could reduce the risk of developing atopic dermatitis. Conversely, higher average monthly intake of other alcoholic drinks was associated with an increased risk of atopic dermatitis. For allergic asthma, higher intake of filtered coffee was identified as a protective factor, while increased average weekly intake of spirits and cherry were considered risk factors. Furthermore, an increase in average weekly intake of beer plus cider was found to potentially lower the risk of allergic conjunctivitis. However, we did not discover any causal association between the risk of allergic rhinitis and the dietary intake factors.

Conclusion: This MR study validates the potential causal effects of specific dietary intake on different atopic diseases and provides strong support for the development of individualized prevention strategies and health interventions at the family level.