Potential causal association between immune cells, metabolites and Parkinson's disease: A mediation Mendelian randomization study

Background

Several studies have indicated a potential link between immune cells and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the precise causal relationship between them, along with the ambiguous mediatory function of metabolites in this connection, remains largely undefined.

Methods

Immune cells, metabolites, and PD have been identified through extensive analysis of summary data from large-scale genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To delve deeper into the causal relationships among these factors, we employed Mendelian randomization (MR) techniques. Our primary statistical approach was inverse variance weighting (IVW). Furthermore, we investigated whether metabolites serve as a mediator in the pathway connecting immune cells to PD.

Results

We observed 16 positive and 14 negative causal effects between the genetic predisposition of immune cells and PD. Similarly, there were 19 positive and 21 negative causal relationships identified between metabolites and PD. Furthermore, our results indicate that CD11c⁺ HLA-DR⁺⁺ monocyte %monocyte and CD16 on CD14⁺ CD16⁺ monocyte exert adverse effects on PD by elevating Sphingomyelin (d17:2/16:0, d18:2/15:0) levels.

Conclusions

This study reinforces the link between immune cells and the risk of PD, while simultaneously elucidating the mediating role of Sphingomyelin in the causal relationship between these factors.