Exploring causal correlations between oily fish intake and multiple sclerosis: A two-sample Mendelian randomization study.
- 2026-12-01
- Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition 34(6)
- PubMed: 41338953
- DOI: 10.6133/apjcn.202512_34(6).0009
Study Design
- Type
- Observational
- Population
- individuals of European ancestry
- Methods
- Two-sample Mendelian randomization study using GWAS data
- Funding
- Unclear
Background and objectives
According to observational studies, dietary habits may influence the occurrence of multiple sclerosis (MS). There are, however, only a few Mendelian randomization (MR) studies on both.Methods and study design
The objective of this two-sample MR study was to examine possible causal associations between the twenty-one dietary practices and MS. For this investigation, we employed MR analysis utilizing generally accessible statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) to examine causal connections between dietary habits and MS susceptibility among persons of European descent. The IEU Open GWAS project (https://gwas.mrcieu.ac.uk/) provided these GWAS data. Pleiotropy and heterogeneity were investigated using the MR-Egger Intercept test and Cochran's Q test, respectively. MR-Egger, weighted median, inverse variance weighted (IVW), simple mode, and weighted mode were used to assess the causal relationship between 21 dietary habit levels and MS.Results
After removing outliers, we found a significant association between genetically induced oily fish intake and MS risk (IVW, OR: 0.557; 95% CI: 0.351-0.884; p = 0.013). Extensive sensitivity analyses confirmed this result. Other dietary habits had no dis-cernible relationship with MS risk.Conclusions
This MR analysis provides evidence of an association be-tween dietary patterns and the risk of developing MS. Notably, higher intake of oily fish was associated with a reduced risk of MS among individuals of European ancestry.Research Insights
| Supplement | Dose | Health Outcome | Effect Type | Effect Size | Source |
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