Effect of inflammatory cytokines and plasma metabolome on OSA: a bidirectional two- sample Mendelian randomization study and mediation analysis

Background Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disorder. Inflammatory factors and plasma metabolites are important in assessing its progression. However, the causal relationship between them and OSA remains unclear, hampering early clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions. Methods We conducted a large-scale study using data from the FinnGen database, with 43,901 cases and 366,484 controls for our discovery MR analysis. We employed 91 plasma proteins from 11 cohorts (totaling 14,824 participants of European descent) as instrumental variables (IVs). Additionally, we conducted a GWAS involving 13,818 cases and 463,035 controls to replicate the MR analysis. We primarily used the IVW method, supplemented by MR Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode methods. Meta-analysis was used to synthesize MR findings, followed by tests for heterogeneity, pleiotropy, and sensitivity analysis (LOO). Reverse MR analysis was also performed to explore causal relationships. Results The meta-analysis showed a correlation between elevated Eotaxin levels and an increased risk of OSA (OR=1.050, 95% CI: 1.008-1.096; p < 0.05). Furthermore, we found that the increased risk of OSA could be attributed to reduced levels of X-11849 and X-24978 (decreases of 7.1% and 8.4%, respectively). Sensitivity analysis results supported the reliability of these findings. Conclusions In this study, we uncovered a novel biomarker and identified two previously unknown metabolites strongly linked to OSA. These findings underscore the potential significance of inflammatory factors and metabolites in the genetic underpinnings of OSA development and prognosis.