The Role of Calcium, 25-Hydroxyvitamin D, and Parathyroid Hormone in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Bidirectional Two-Sample Mendelian Randomization Study

Several observational studies have indicated the potential associations among calcium, vitamin D (Vit-D), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However, the causal relationship deduced from these studies is subject to residual confounding factors and reverse causation. Therefore, we aimed to explore the bidirectional causal effects among serum calcium, Vit-D, PTH, and IBS at the genetic level by a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis of the datasets from IEU OpenGWAS database. Sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate the robustness. The estimates were presented as odds ratios (ORs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). The results of the inverse variance weighted method did not reveal any causal relationship between the genetically predisposed calcium (OR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.80-1.06, p = 0.25) and Vit-D (OR = 0.99, 95% CI: 0.83-1.19, p = 0.94) level and the risk of IBS. The bidirectional analysis demonstrated that genetic predisposition to IBS was associated with a decreased level of PTH (beta: -0.19, 95%CI: -0.34 to -0.04, p = 0.01). In conclusion, the present study indicates no causal relationship between the serum calcium and Vit-D concentrations and the risk of IBS. The potential mechanisms via which IBS affects serum PTH need to be further investigated.

Automated summary

This study utilized a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to explore the causal effects among calcium, vitamin D (Vit-D), parathyroid hormone (PTH), and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The results did not find any causal relationship between serum calcium, Vit-D levels, and the risk of IBS. However, there was an association between genetic predisposition to IBS and decreased levels of PTH.