Educational attainment increases the risk of developing allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema: a Mendelian randomization study based on genome-wide association studies in European patients
10.3760/cma.j.cn112150-20230830-00138
- VernacularTitle:教育程度增加变应性鼻炎和（或）湿疹的患病风险：一项基于欧洲患者全基因组关联研究的孟德尔随机化研究
- Author:
Rui ZHENG
1
;
Zifeng LIU
;
Zhuanggui CHEN
;
Xuekun HUANG
;
Peiying FENG
;
Huijun QIU
;
Yaxin LU
;
Jingjing CHEN
;
Yana ZHANG
;
Jianrong ZHANG
;
Qintai YANG
Author Information
1. 中山大学附属第三医院耳鼻咽喉-头颈外科，广州 510630
- Keywords:
Rhinitis, allergic, seasonal;
Rhinitis, allergic, perennial;
Eczema;
Education;
Mendelian randomization studies
- From:
Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine
2024;58(6):791-798
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To determine the causal relationship between educational attainment and the risk of allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema using Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses.Methods:This study was a secondary data analysis based on the summary data of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), which involved 293 723 participants (educational attainment) from the Social Science Genetics Association Consortium and 462 013 participants [allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema] from the UK Biobank. Genetic variants that were closely related to educational attainment were identified as instrumental variables. Two-sample MR analyses, including inverse-variance weighted (IVW), MR-Egger regression, weighted median method and weighted model-based estimation, were performed to investigate the causal relationship between educational attainment and the risk of allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema, in which the odds ratio ( OR) values were used as indicators. Results:A total of 70 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were chosen as instrumental variables. The MR-Egger regression results suggested that the genetic pleiotropy was unlikely to bias our results ( P=0.107). In the univariable MR analyses, IVW regression showed that the risk of allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema was OR=1.044 (95% CI: 1.020-1.069, P<0.001) and OR=1.170 (95% CI: 1.074-1.256, P<0.001), respectively, for the increase in the duration of education by one year or one standard deviation ( SD) (3.71 years). In the reverse MR analysis, IVW regression showed little evidence that allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema affected educational attainment ( OR=1.020, 95% CI: 0.927-1.023, P=0.683). The results of the weighted median method and weighted mode-based estimation were consistent with the results of IVW. Conclusion:This study suggests that there is a positive causal relationship between educational attainment and the risk of allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema, which means that educational attainment can increase the occurrence of allergic rhinitis and (or) eczema.
