Bidirectional Causal Relationship between Inflammatory Cytokines and Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to establish a genetic correlation between inflammatory cytokines (IC) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) to present an empirical reference for BPH treatment. Methods: Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data were derived from two genome-wide association studies of IC and BPH. Forward Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was carried out by the inverse variance weighting method with IC-related SNPs as the instrumental variable and BPH as the outcome, while the reverse MR analysis used BPH-related SNPs as the instrumental variable and IC as the outcome. Results: The results from forward MR analysis showed that there was no statistical differences between 51 ICs and BPH at the genetic level (P>0.05). Reverse MR analysis showed that BPH was significantly correlated with one type of IC at the genetic level (P<0.05), while the rest were no statistical differences (P>0.05). Conclusion: There was no bidirectional relationship between IC and BPH at the genetic level, suggesting that genetic exposure of IC may have no effect on BPH.