目的:梅毒的致病机制和宿主对梅毒的防御机制尚不清楚。探索梅毒的易感因素可能为揭示其潜在机制提供关键线索。
方法:采用双样本孟德尔随机化框架,并采用逆方差加权法作为主要分析。所有数据均来自欧洲2015年至2022年的全基因组关联研究数据集,所有参与者都是欧洲血统。仅使用汇总级别的统计数据。进行敏感性分析以评估数据集的异质性和多效性。
结果:我们的研究确定了梅毒易感性的18个暴露因素(12个危险因素和6个保护因素)。包括体重指数在内的十二个因素,腰围,深色天然皮肤,煮熟的蔬菜摄入量,加工肉类的摄入量,糖尿病,葡萄糖调节紊乱,痛风,自身免疫性疾病,类风湿性关节炎,憩室炎,并且发现更长的月经周期会增加对梅毒的易感性。相比之下,6个因素,包括更容易晒黑的皮肤,金色自然发色,烦躁,更高的神经质分数,延长睡眠时间,初次性交年龄延迟与梅毒感染风险降低有关(均P<0.05)。
结论:本研究确定了梅毒易感性的18个影响因素。这些发现为进一步探讨梅毒的潜在致病机制提供了新的见解,并强调了针对梅毒的多方面预防策略的重要性。
OBJECTIVE: The pathogenic mechanisms of syphilis and the host defense mechanisms against syphilis remain poorly understood. Exploration of the susceptibility factors of syphilis may provide crucial clues for unraveling its underlying mechanisms.
METHODS: A two-sample Mendelian Randomization framework was utilized, and the inverse-variance weighted method was used as the main analysis. All data was sourced from Genome-wide association studies datasets from 2015 to 2022 in Europe, and all participants were of European descent. Only summary-level statistics were used. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the heterogeneity and pleiotropy of the datasets.
RESULTS: Our study established 18 exposure factors (12 risk factors and 6 protective factors) for syphilis susceptibility. Twelve factors encompassing body mass index, waist circumference, darker natural skin, cooked vegetable intake, processed meat intake, diabetes mellitus, glucose regulation disorders, gout, autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, diverticulitis, and longer menstrual cycles were found to increase susceptibility to syphilis. In contrast, 6 factors including easier skin tanning, blonde natural hair color, irritability, higher neuroticism scores, extended sleep duration, and delayed age at first sexual intercourse were connected to a reduced risk of syphilis infection (all P < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: This study identified 18 influencing factors of syphilis susceptibility. These findings offered novel insights for further probing into the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of syphilis and underscored the importance of multifaceted prevention strategies against syphilis.