Causal relationship between periodontitis and prostate cancer: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Objectives A two-sample Mendelian randomization study approach was used to assess the potential causal relationship between periodontitis and the risk of prostate cancer. Methods We conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis utilizing publicly available genome-wide association study (GWAS) statistics. In the main analysis, we employed inverse variance weighting (IVW), while complementary methods such as the simple mode, weighted median, weighted mode and MR-Egger approaches were utilized to identify and correct for potential horizontal pleiotropy effects. Results IVW MR analysis revealed periodontitis to be a risk factor for prostate cancer (OR and 95% CI: 1.066, 1.008 ~ 1.126; p = 0.028). Similarly, the weighted median results were consistent with the IVW results (OR and 95% CI: 1.088, 1.003 ~ 1180; p = 0.041), whereas the MR‒Egger regression, simple mode, and weighted mode results were inconsistent with the IVW results; in addition, the funnel plot and MR‒Egger intercept (0.041) were not consistent with the IVW results. The MR‒Egger intercept (0.019, p = 0.114) was not observed to indicate multiplicity and heterogeneity. CONCLUSION MR analysis of a large sample suggested a potential causal relationship between periodontitis and prostate cancer, and periodontitis was a risk factor for prostate cancer.