The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses

<b>Background:</b> The gut microbiome (GM) has been reported to play a role in traumatic brain injury (TBI). To investigate the causal relationship between GMs, inflammatory mediators, and TBI, a comprehensive Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted. <b>Methods:</b&g...

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Main Authors: Bingyi Song, Youjia Qiu, Zilan Wang, Yuchen Tao, Menghan Wang, Aojie Duan, Minjia Xie, Ziqian Yin, Zhouqing Chen, Chao Ma, Zhong Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Biomedicines
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/3/753
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author Bingyi Song
Youjia Qiu
Zilan Wang
Yuchen Tao
Menghan Wang
Aojie Duan
Minjia Xie
Ziqian Yin
Zhouqing Chen
Chao Ma
Zhong Wang
author_facet Bingyi Song
Youjia Qiu
Zilan Wang
Yuchen Tao
Menghan Wang
Aojie Duan
Minjia Xie
Ziqian Yin
Zhouqing Chen
Chao Ma
Zhong Wang
author_sort Bingyi Song
collection DOAJ
description <b>Background:</b> The gut microbiome (GM) has been reported to play a role in traumatic brain injury (TBI). To investigate the causal relationship between GMs, inflammatory mediators, and TBI, a comprehensive Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted. <b>Methods:</b> We utilized Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) summary statistics to examine the causal relationships between GM and TBI. To assess the potential causal associations between GM and TBI, we employed the inverse-variance-weighted, MR-Egger, and weighted median methods. Mediation analysis was used to assess the possible mediating factors. Several sensitivity analyses methods were implemented to verify the stability of the results. Additionally, we utilized FUMA GWAS to map single-nucleotide polymorphisms to genes and conduct transcriptomic MR analysis. <b>Results:</b> We identified potential causal relationships between nine bacterial taxa and TBI. Notably, class <i>Methanobacteria</i>, family <i>Methanobacteriaceae</i>, and order <i>Methanobacteriales</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.0003) maintained a robust positive correlation with TBI. This causal association passed false discovery rate (FDR) correction (FDR < 0.05). Genetically determined 1 inflammatory protein, 30 immune cells and 3 inflammatory factors were significantly causally related to TBI. None of them mediated the relationship between GMs and TBI. The outcome of the sensitivity analysis corroborated the findings. Regarding the mapped genes of significant GMs, genes such as <i>CLK4</i>, <i>MTRF1</i>, <i>NAA16</i>, <i>SH3BP5</i>, and <i>ZNF354A</i> in class <i>Methanobacteria</i> showed a significant causal correlation with TBI. <b>Conclusions:</b> Our study reveals the potential causal effects of nine GMs, especially <i>Methanogens</i> on TBI, and there was no link between TBI and GM through inflammatory protein, immune cells, and inflammatory factors, which may offer fresh insights into TBI biomarkers and therapeutic targets through specific GMs.
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spelling doaj-art-488694bc762a44edbabf2aa03bd301ad2025-08-20T02:42:42ZengMDPI AGBiomedicines2227-90592025-03-0113375310.3390/biomedicines13030753The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation AnalysesBingyi Song0Youjia Qiu1Zilan Wang2Yuchen Tao3Menghan Wang4Aojie Duan5Minjia Xie6Ziqian Yin7Zhouqing Chen8Chao Ma9Zhong Wang10Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaSuzhou Medical College, Soochow University, Suzhou 215002, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, ChinaDepartment of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215006, China<b>Background:</b> The gut microbiome (GM) has been reported to play a role in traumatic brain injury (TBI). To investigate the causal relationship between GMs, inflammatory mediators, and TBI, a comprehensive Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted. <b>Methods:</b> We utilized Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) summary statistics to examine the causal relationships between GM and TBI. To assess the potential causal associations between GM and TBI, we employed the inverse-variance-weighted, MR-Egger, and weighted median methods. Mediation analysis was used to assess the possible mediating factors. Several sensitivity analyses methods were implemented to verify the stability of the results. Additionally, we utilized FUMA GWAS to map single-nucleotide polymorphisms to genes and conduct transcriptomic MR analysis. <b>Results:</b> We identified potential causal relationships between nine bacterial taxa and TBI. Notably, class <i>Methanobacteria</i>, family <i>Methanobacteriaceae</i>, and order <i>Methanobacteriales</i> (<i>p</i> = 0.0003) maintained a robust positive correlation with TBI. This causal association passed false discovery rate (FDR) correction (FDR < 0.05). Genetically determined 1 inflammatory protein, 30 immune cells and 3 inflammatory factors were significantly causally related to TBI. None of them mediated the relationship between GMs and TBI. The outcome of the sensitivity analysis corroborated the findings. Regarding the mapped genes of significant GMs, genes such as <i>CLK4</i>, <i>MTRF1</i>, <i>NAA16</i>, <i>SH3BP5</i>, and <i>ZNF354A</i> in class <i>Methanobacteria</i> showed a significant causal correlation with TBI. <b>Conclusions:</b> Our study reveals the potential causal effects of nine GMs, especially <i>Methanogens</i> on TBI, and there was no link between TBI and GM through inflammatory protein, immune cells, and inflammatory factors, which may offer fresh insights into TBI biomarkers and therapeutic targets through specific GMs.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/3/753gut microbiometraumatic brain injurymendelian randomizationinflammatory factorimmune cellmapped genes
spellingShingle Bingyi Song
Youjia Qiu
Zilan Wang
Yuchen Tao
Menghan Wang
Aojie Duan
Minjia Xie
Ziqian Yin
Zhouqing Chen
Chao Ma
Zhong Wang
The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
Biomedicines
gut microbiome
traumatic brain injury
mendelian randomization
inflammatory factor
immune cell
mapped genes
title The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
title_full The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
title_fullStr The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
title_full_unstemmed The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
title_short The Causal Relationship Between Gut Microbiomes, Inflammatory Mediators, and Traumatic Brain Injury in Europeans: Evidence from Genetic Correlation and Functional Mapping Annotation Analyses
title_sort causal relationship between gut microbiomes inflammatory mediators and traumatic brain injury in europeans evidence from genetic correlation and functional mapping annotation analyses
topic gut microbiome
traumatic brain injury
mendelian randomization
inflammatory factor
immune cell
mapped genes
url https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/13/3/753
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