The role of mitochondrial DNA copy number in autoimmune disease: a bidirectional two sample mendelian randomization study

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) plays an important role in autoimmune diseases (AD), yet the relationship between mitochondria and autoimmune disease is controversial. This study employed bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) to explore the causal relationship between mtDNA copy number and 13 ADs (including ankylosing spondylitis [AS], Crohn's disease [CD], juvenile rheumatoid arthritis [JRA], polymyalgia rheumatica [PMR], psoriasis [PSO], rheumatoid arthritis [RA], Sjogren's syndrome [SS], systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE], thyrotoxicosis, type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM], ulcerative colitis [UC], and vitiligo).