The relationship between mental health problems and risk of infectious diseases: A Mendelian randomization analysis

• Published in: Medicine (Baltimore) 2024-09, Vol.103 (36), p.e39433
• Main Authors: Wang, Ling, Fang, Meilin, Wang, Cunze, Li, Jinglin, Huang, Shasha, Li, Wen, Zhuang, Boyang, Gong, Shurong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Communicable Diseases - epidemiology; Communicable Diseases - genetics; Genome-Wide Association Study; Humans; Male; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - genetics; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; Risk Factors; Sleep Wake Disorders - epidemiology; Sleep Wake Disorders - genetics
• ISSN: 0025-7974; 1536-5964; 1536-5964
• DOI: 10.1097/MD.0000000000039433

The causal effects of mental health problems on the risk of infectious diseases remain vague. Investigating them via observational study is challenging as it presents possible confounding factors. Therefore, the objective of this study was to utilize Mendelian randomization (MR) techniques to evaluate the causal relationship between mental health problems and the risk of infectious diseases. Multivariable MR analyses were performed using genome-wide association data for sleep disorders (N = 216,700), depression (N = 500,199), anxiety (N = 290,361), nervous feelings (N = 450,700), unspecified mental disorder (N = 218,792), pneumonia (N = 486,484), skin and subcutaneous tissue infection (SSTI; N = 218,792), intestinal infectious diseases (IIDs; N = 218,792), urinary tract infection (N = 463,010), and central nervous system (CNS) infections (N = 218,792) among individuals of European ancestry. Independent genetic variants significantly (P