Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Microbial Immunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1408770

Gut microbiota and Pancreatic cancer risk, and the mediating role of immune cells and inflammatory cytokines: a Mendelian randomization study

Provisionally accepted
  • 1 Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China
  • 2 Guangzhou Panyu Central Hospital, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Gut microbiota (GM) influences the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer (PC), potentially through the involvement of inflammatory cytokines (IC) and immune cells (IM). We aimed to investigate the causal impact of the gut microbiota (GM) on pancreatic cancer (PC) and identify potential IC and IM mediators.The summary statistics data from whole-genome association studies of gut microbiota, immune cells, inflammatory cytokines, and four types of pancreatic tumors (MNP: Malignant neoplasm of pancreas; BNP: Benign neoplasm of pancreas; ADCP: Adenocarcinoma and ductal carcinoma of pancreas; NTCP: Neuroendocrine tumor and carcinoma of pancreas). Two-sample univariable Mendelian randomization (UVMR), multivariable Mendelian randomization (MVMR), and mediation analysis were employed to assess the causal relationship between gut microbiota (GM) and pancreatic cancer (PC), as well as potential IC and IM mediators.The two-sample UVMR analysis showed causal relationships between 20 gut microbiota species and pancreatic cancer, with pancreatic cancer affecting the abundance of 37 gut microbiota species. Mediation analysis revealed that Interleukin-6 (IL-6), "CD4 on naive CD4+ T cell" and "SSC-A on HLA DR+ Natural Killer" mediated the causal effects of gut microbiota on pancreatic cancer.This Mendelian randomization study demonstrates causal relationships between several specific gut microbiota and pancreatic cancer, as well as potential mediators (IC, IM).

    Keywords: Mendelian randomization, Gut Microbiota, Pancreatic Cancer, immune cells, inflammatory cytokines

    Received: 02 Apr 2024; Accepted: 12 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Wang, Bao and Ma. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Shudong Ma, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.